Of Hotels and Roommates
by SunnyHinata
Summary: oof, needs to be redone.
1. Finding Your Roommates

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Dedicated to: My Friend Heather, who forced me to stop reading other things and put this up. And I expect her to review since she NEVER gets on Yahoo and I can't talk to her.

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Word count: 1,958

Of Hotels and Roommates: Chapter 1, Finding Your Roommates

Tsunade had already sent out messengers to retrieve all the important genin, now all that was left to do was wait. She leant back in her chair and propped her legs up on her desk, admiring her finely polished toenails.

"Lady Tsunade, they're here." a voice called through the door.

"Send em in."

The door opened up and in stepped Shizune with the young members of Team 7, Team 8, Team 10 and the visiting Team Sand.

"Old Lady, this better be good, I was about to go get some ramen!" Naruto yelled. Sasuke slapped him in the head. "Owww…" Hinata smiled.

"Vacation. That's it. This idea is as clichéd as I don't know what, but at this point I don't care. I've gotten each of you a ticket to stay in a hotel in a neighboring non-ninja village. There is a pool, a bath house, daily meals, and each person will have one roommate. Three lucky people will be sharing a room. _Separate beds._" the Hokage announced, winking at all the guys as she did so.

"Take your tickets. Be here tomorrow and we'll send you off. We probably won't put it into this story though because that would be boring. Any questions?" No one said anything. "Dismissed." The genin left the rooms obediently.

"Thank god for silencing and restraining jutsus."

* * *

"So this is it, eh? I guess it isn't swanky, but it's okay." Kiba said as the rest of the gang filed into the hotel lobby, albeit some grudgingly. The whole place was ornate with green and gold.

A man with, what looked like, a pole on the top of his head glared at them from a managers desk. He got up from his desk and walked over to them briskly. "Can I help you?" They could now see that the pole was his hair.

"Yes," said Sakura, taking control of the situation, "We have fourteen rooms reserved for a week long stay by order of the Fifth Hokage of the Leaf Village." she finished formally.

"Ahhh." His expression changed at once from utterly annoyed to a fake smile. "Fallow me please." He started to walk off to the right, so all the genin decided to fallow him so they could figure out what was going to happen with this story, thus creating a plot, which in turn can give authors ideas, and we all know what happens when writers get ideas; chaos ensues for unlucky characters and there is always a comedy fic attached to it, so we can all be sure that there will be puns (lord help us all). (A/N: Oh yah, Run ons Baby!)

Mr. Pole-for-hair led them down a hallway. At each turn they took, there was a soda machine and ice machine at the beginning of the way. The carpets were red with little triangles and swirls on them (Yay for detail).

'Here comes the fun part.' The man laughed out loud, stopping at the next hallway. "Each of you will be in one of these rooms," he indicated the whole hallway, up and down with his arms, "Take these. Grab the one that matches you ticket number." he held out a group of packets. Inside each of them was a key. "I hope you looked at your tickets carefully before you grabbed them." and on that note, he was gone.

-Silence-

"Oh no." all the females in the area said, even the old lady walking to her room, though she didn't know why.

"What?" Kiba and Naruto asked.

"Everyone check your ticket numbers." Ino commanded. All the boys looked down at their ticket numbers, shrugged, then stared at the blonde.

"Don't you get it? We took our tickets assuming that they were all the same, but they aren't! Those tickets decide who we room with!!" Tenten clarified. All the boys faces immediately changed from their former expressions to looks of astonishment. Gaara remained unfazed because he doesn't care, as long as he can play his Gameboy.

"No..." Shikamaru said, getting on his knees. "Please just don't put me with Ino. That's all I ask." he prayed quietly. Fortunately for him, Ino couldn't hear because she was too busy fantasizing about Sasuke to be observant.

"This is just some weird game. We have to try our keys in all the doors until we get the right one, I guess. Here goes." Sakura said, plunging her key into one of the doors. Nothing happened. She tried the handle, but it was still locked.

"I guess we'll just have to split up and ch-check all the doors ours-selves." Hinata put in.

"Good idea Hinata! Your so smart!" Naruto complemented. Sakura sighed at his stupidity, while Hinata blushed.

"Thanks Naruto..." she mumbled quietly.

"Kay, everyone pick a door and try your keys. If you are granted access, call out to everyone that you have yours, then go inside and wait for your partner, or partners _if_ you're the _lucky _one." Temari announced, checking a door herself. Nothing happened.

Everyone split up and checked the doors, and after two tries, Tenten called out that she had one, then stepped inside her room.

Hearing this, Neji immediately ran over to her door and begged, "Tenten! You have to let me sleep with you!" Kiba, who happened to be at the door across from Neji, raised his eyebrows in a suggestive manner at the Hyuuga. "Oh shut up Inuzuka, you know that's not what I meant." Neji said crossly.

"Neji," Tenten opened the door, "I would but I can't. You have to 'earn' this room. Try your key." she said, closing the door.

Neji hurriedly stuck his key into the door and-

"I got one!" two more people called out.

-nothing happened. "Noooo!" Neji cried dramatically, falling to his knees.

"I got one!" _three_ more people called out. Neji finally regained his composure and tried to play it off as if he hadn't just had a break down.

* * *

After a few more minutes, all the kids had found their rooms:

The Uchiha stuck his key into the hole of room #207. A green light flashed on his key and a little beep sounded of. "Got mine." he told Neji who was next to him. He smirked at the male Hyuuga.

Sasuke opened the door to find the light on and a purple suitcase on the floor next to one of the beds. "Ugh, that looks like Ino's. I don't want to share a room with her." he mimed in a panicked voice. "As long as it isn't Ino or Naruto, I'll be alright."

The light to the bathroom was on and Sasuke could here a sink running. Suddenly the sink shut off, there was a slight shuffling, then the door opened to reveal-

"So I'm stuck with you? Whatever. Don't touch my stuff and I'm sure I won't rip your head off." a girl with four spiky blonde pigtails stated without emotion.

"Ditto." said Sasuke, relieved.

* * *

"Finally." Shikamaru said, sighing as he opened a door at the very end of the hallway. He was a little disappointed though, because on the door was a sign that read: _Three person room. Three beds. Slightly larger than the rest._ "I guess at least they make up for."

There were two suitcases lying nest to the beds. On one of the beds was a boy with dark red hair and on the other sat a boy with a black drape-like thing on his head. The latter was unpacking his bags, the former glaring at the wall.

"Well it could have been worse." Kankuro said, looking at Shikamaru.

"…" Gaara sat emotionless.

"Yah you could have been rooming with Ino." Shikamaru commented, falling onto his bed. Kankuro shivered.

* * *

"Yay, I hope no one's here yet." said Sakura, entering into her room and turning the lights on. There was a bathroom door directly next to her on the left, then two beds on the same side, with a little night stand in between. There was a window on the far side, underneath it a heater, and beside that was a mini table with two chairs. On the right wall were two dressers and a trashcan.

"Pretty cool, huh?"

"Choji, when did you get in here? You scared me."

"Oh just a second after you." he said nonchalantly.

"Oh." Sakura said, face expressionless. _'At least it wasn't Naruto.'__

* * *

_"Poor Neji…" Tenten muttered while staring at the ceiling. "I hope he at least got a good roommate." A beeping sound interrupted her thoughts of her baby- I mean Neji. Yah..._Neji._

A boy with a high collar jacket and sunglasses stepped into the room. He gave her a quick glance before gliding over to his bed.

"Guess I got you, eh?"

"It appears so." said the young Aburame.

* * *

"Naruto, y-you can…share a room…with m-me if you can't find yours." Hinata offered meekly. She had already found hers and was standing outside it waiting for Naruto.

Overhearing Hinata's proposal, Lee offered that he too would allow Naruto to stay in his room.

"Thanks guys, but I'll find it eventually!" Naruto said enthusiastically. At that moment the door he tried granted him access. "See ya later!" he said disappearing inside.

"I think I will try this door!" said Lee, sticking his key into the door that was already occupied by Hinata. The female was staring sadly at Naruto's door when a beeping interrupted her thoughts.

"Looks like I will be rooming with you!" Lee yelled/said. Hinata nodded the stepped inside the room with Lee.

'Arg!' Neji thought in his head as he frantically pushed his key into random doors. Finally he found one and ran inside, jumping on the bed, suitcase and all. He regretted it a second later, because the suitcase came up and hit him between the eyes. "Owww…"

"Thanks guys, but I'll find it eventually!" Neji heard through the door, fallowed by a beep and the door opening. "Hey Neji."

"Naruto." Neji greeted coolly. _'Could have been worse. Ino…'_

* * *

Ino sneezed and then stepped into her room. She sneezed again and sat down on one of the beds. The blonde hadn't bothered to turn the lights on, hoping to scare the next person that entered the room. Beside her were a pair of eyes watching her intently. "Ahhh!" the girl screeched.

"What is it?!?" yelled another pair of eyes coming from the bathroom.

"Ahhh!" Ino screamed again.

"Oh geezum." Kiba groaned. _'I get stuck with _her_.'_

Ino sneezed.

**

* * *

A/N: Yah, I threw that little myth about sneezing in there; When you sneeze it means someone is talking about you, and a lot of people happened to be talking about Ino. I have no idea how many total chapters I'm going to have, but there will NOT be anything to do with the Akatsuki. I have no plot right now, and I don't think I'll ever get one. There will be a few pairs I suppose, But there won't be any SasuSaku because I've been reading to much of that one lately, so it most likely will be KibaSaku I think. Other possible ones I'm thinking about are NejiTen, NaruHina, and ShikaTema, and even possibly, InoCho(Which I've never even thought of doing before). I vowed I wouldn't put more than one couple in this story, but screw my plans, I have Money :D**


	2. Let's play Chicken!

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A/N: I'd like to thank those two people who reviewed, kazekagesama23, KiriUchiha, Pepsi Dragon, and yumi-maki (And if it wasn't for her, I wouldn't have known that the submision had screwed up). Also, for reference, I've put this as a humor story. It will have some funny (in my opinion) parts to it, but it won't be straight out crack. How I wish it would be though…Anyways, Here's chapter 2.

Word count: 1,539

**Of Hotels and Roommates Chapter 2: Lets play chicken!**

After everyone had gotten settled, they decided to have dinner down in the 'expo' as it was called. The girls took charge and got each of the boys and themselves meal tickets. They would be used throughout the week if they were ever hungry.

Once everyone had gotten their food they sat down at random tables. Except the girls. They sat together at one table, because they are just _that_ awesome.

"So, who'd you get stuck with Hinata?" Ino asked casually while picking up her apple.

"Well, umm…Lee." Hinata said quietly.

"That's good. I'm sure you'll be up all night." Tenten mused. Sakura raised her eyebrows at the weapons mistress, but remained silent.

"Why?" Temari demanded lightly.

"Because," Tenten started, "On missions when Neji and I are trying to sleep, Gai and Lee are up at five training. I wouldn't put it past him to get up early at like three and start doing push-ups or something." Tenten finished, giggling.

"I'm sure he won't bother me." Hinata said.

"Well, what about you Temari?" Ino asked. "What lucky person got you as a roommate?"

"Oh, no one, just…Sasuke." She bragged. "I don't even like him. I don't know what you guys see in him."

Sakura didn't say anything, but eyed one of the boys' tables. "What? He's a stud!" Ino practically screamed. The boys across the room turned to stare at the girls' table. "Heh heh…" Ino laughed nervously, returning to her macaroni salad.

"But he's hot." she finished confidently.

"Well, actually…Naruto has better abs than Sasuke. I've seen." Sakura said quietly, with her head down. Hinata blushed furiously and wished she had seen. She glanced over at one of the boys' tables and caught Naruto's eye. He waved.

"You have got to be kidding me." Ino said raising one of her eyebrows. "No way." she declared, taking a bite of her apple.

"I guess we'll see later when we go swimming, unless Naruto decides to do something else, which I doubt he will." Temari stood up and directed her body to the boys' tables. "Hey, are you all going to go swimming?!" she called over.

"You know I am!" Naruto yelled, spitting food on Sasuke who glared and wiped it off. Hinata thought she might have fainted right there if it weren't for the fact that there was hot food under her chin and she didn't want to risk burning herself.

"Me too!" Lee and Kiba called over, giving each other a high five. Akamaru barked in agreement. Neji, Choji and Kankuro nodded, while the rest said nothing.

"Gaara will go down, he just won't swim." Temari told the girls, sitting herself back down.

"I don't think I'll go." Hinata's face was still scarlet when she spoke.

"You know how to swim, right?" The embarrassed girl nodded. "Well then what's the problem?"

Hinata mumbled something incoherent, earning a "What did you say?" from all the girls present.

"I don't want…bathing suit…boys."

"Hinata I have no blessed idea what you are talking about. Speak up." Sakura commanded.

"I said: I don't w-want to wear my bathing suit in front of the boys!" she yelled. All heads turned towards Hinata. She flashed pink, then red, and fainted.

"Poor thing." Tenten said, fishing into Hinata's jacket pocket. "I'll take her back up to her room. See ya later." The conscious girl with buns in her hair pulled Hinata out from the table, slung the girl over her shoulder and left the cafeteria-like place without a sound. Everyone else resumed their meals. When they were done they all went back to their rooms to get into their bathing suits.

* * *

"Lee, are you ready?" Naruto called through the door.

"Oh, Naruto! You can come in." Lee told him from the other side. Naruto opened the door and plopped down on one of the beds.

"I am all ready, just waiting for Hinata. She is in the bathroom changing." Lee said while stretching his arms. "I do not want to get cramps while I swim!"

"Right.." Naruto said, only half listening. Suddenly the bathroom door opened and Hinata stepped out with a huge fluffy towel draped over her. Naruto couldn't help it; he cracked up. "Hinata, you look so silly!" he said laughing. The laugh was not crude, but left Hinata disappointed in herself for having a huge towel (at this point, the author slaps herself in the forehead). "But you still look fine."

'Fine, fine, fine…' Then the Hyuuga fainted. 

"I'll carry her." Naruto said walking over and draping her and her monster sized towel over his shoulders. "Ohhh, the towel is soft." Naruto said contently. He and Lee left the room and met up with Shino and Tenten (who didn't even ask what had happened to Hinata) then practically ran down to the pool.

* * *

Naruto set Hinata down on one of the chairs, then did a double cannon-ball with Lee into the massive heated pool. The water rose high and made a wave, almost taking Kiba, Kankuro and Akamaru under, then came down with a crash, splashing most of the girls on the side of the pool.

"Nar-u-to!" Ino yelled while Sakura laughed at her friend's misfortune in getting wet. The noises of yelling and apologizing stirred Hinata, and she opened her eyes. "Whazat?"

"Just the usual. You fainted." Tenten clarified.

"How did I get here?"

"Naruto carried you." Realization struck the midnight purple-haired girl and she flushed.

"Hinata, if you don't want anyone to know that you like him, try to be a little more inconspicuous, hm?" Temari pointed out.

"What do you m-mean?"

"It's clear as day that you like him. Why don't you go tell him yourself?" Tenten asked. Ino pulled Hinata up off her lawn chair and hurled her into the pool. She flailed around a little bit before settling herself and treading water. The girl was trying as hard as she could to glare at Ino, but it just wasn't working, it only ended looking as if she had to go to the bathroom.

"Oi, Hinata! I was waiting for you to get in the water. Let's play a game!" Naruto announced, swimming over to Hinata. The girl desperately tried to cover herself up and go incognito next to the pool side, but failed miserably and was roped into playing some game referred to as chicken or something.

* * *

"I say we ride on our roommates shoulders." Tenten suggested, even though Shino stood fully clothed at one of the tables that occupied the pool side.

"I don't want Neji on my shoulders!" Naruto complained, crossing his arms.

"I don't want to be on your shoulders." Neji said indignantly from the side of the pool.

"Well since Shino isn't playing, Tenten can ride on my shoulders, and Hinata can…." Naruto trailed off.

"Ride on mine." Neji said while swiftly jumping into the pool.

"And someone from the side of the pool can ride on mine." Kiba looked over at the girls on the side of the pool and called out to Sakura to come into the water.

"Sure." Sakura said, removing her towel and walking down the built in steps to the pool.

"Temari, you want to ride on mine?!" Lee yelled to her. Temari nodded enthusiastically, surprising everyone. She stole a glance at where the rest of the boys were sitting and then jumped into the water.

"I don't want to play. I think I'll just wrestle with Akamaru." Kankuro said, getting out of the water and calling the Kiba's dog friend.

"I think I'm going to play." Choji said. Shikamaru, who was fully clothed, was surprised, but didn't question his friend. Seeing Choji rise, Ino ran over and jumped onto his shoulders.

"Forward march!" she screamed. Choji sighed and walked into the pool. Apparently, Ino was his partner.

* * *

The first round went rather quick, but they always do. That round is usually one to gauge people's abilities. On that particular one, Hinata didn't try to knock any of the girls off, Sakura lost her balance on Kiba's shoulders and pulled Tenten off Naruto, both girls landing in the water with their partners (Sakura had smiled sheepishly, while Kiba forgave her with no more than a wave of his hand). It was down to Choji and Ino vs. Lee and Temari. In the end, the green beast came fast from behind and Temari struck for Choji's arm pits, causing him to let go of Ino and then fall himself.

Round two, Hinata got a little bolder, but only managed to stick her foot into Kiba's mouth. Luckily, he was caught off balance and he and Sakura fell into the water. She apologized profusely, but Kiba said that it was ok (Sakura nodded the whole time).

Most of the rounds went the same, but when the fifth one came, Hinata didn't want to play anymore, so she and Neji sat on the pool side to dry off.

During all these rounds, Shikamaru chatted with Shino and Sasuke, and Gaara watched Temari (she was having too much fun to be natural).

After Everyone had had a good enough time, they all went up to their rooms and parted ways for the night.

**_

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Next Chapter: Bedtime, Night Visitors, and Sleep-Talkers

A/N: I f you don't know what chicken is, I'll explain; it's basically a game where you have a partner and you sit on his or her shoulders and try to knock the other people of your other friends shoulders'. I've never played, but it sounds kinda fun.

Also, If you got an update saying Chapter 2 was out, I was just correcting a few things, but I'm hoping to have Chapter 3 up by tonight or tomorrow.


	3. Bedtime, Night Visitors, Sleeptalkers

Of Hotels and Roommates Chapter 3: Bedtime, Night Visitors, and Sleep-Talkers

"Wow, I'm really tired," Ino said, taking her leave of Shikamaru and Choji, "See you guys tomorrow." Yawning, Ino stuck her key into her door and glanced back at the boys.

"Bye Ino." they drilled.

"That's what I thought." she finished, stepping into her room and closing the door.

"Dude, she's got you guys whipped." Kiba said, shaking his head and knocking on the door. "Ino open up." The girl complied and Kiba left the boys with a smirk.

"It's true." Choji said sadly, looking at the ground.

Inside, Ino dropped her towel on the bed, then squatted on the ground and dug through her bag to find some pajamas. She pulled out a purple tank top and a pair of pants of the same color. Getting up, she went to the bathroom turned the water on to take a shower. "And don't you event think about coming in to brush your teeth or anything until I come out."

"You don't even have to tell me once. There's no way I'd do that." Kiba said in disgust.

"Good." Ino said, disappearing into the bathroom, not to return for the next twenty minutes. In the mean time, Kiba got dressed in his pajamas and decided to go visit Shino and Hinata.

* * *

Inside of her room, Hinata lay on her bed with a somewhat dismayed look on her face. Hearing a knock on her door, she rose and lightly pushed her wet hair from her face, walking swiftly to the room entrance. "Kiba…?" 

"Heeeeey! Wanna come with me to see Shino? I don't trust him alone with people."

Smiling with resignation, Hinata nodded her head solemnly and left the room. Lee didn't even notice because he was too busy being Lee, which pretty much means that he was working out, even though it was like, 10 o'clock at night.

Outside, Kiba and Hinata walked the hallway, both hearing the obscenities muttered from Neji and Naruto's room. Hinata, being the lady she is, tried her best to ignore them, while Kiba outright laughed, grasping Hinata's arm, to which she responded by rolling her eyes in an un-Hinata like way and pushing him off. Kiba gave a little pout, but didn't say anything as they reached Shino's door.

"Ey Shino, open up man. We gotta make sure you didn't duct tape Tenten to the wall or something!" Kiba shouted through the door. Slowly it opened and Shino appeared looking passive.

"Well, it's safe to say that I have done nothing of the sort to Miss Tenten." Shino said looking from Kiba to Hinata and then opening the door a little wider to reveal Tenten sitting on her bed reading a magazine.

"Shino, it's _Tenten_, not Miss Tenten." said girl reminded from her bed.

"Sorry."

"So, can we come in?" Kiba asked. Not waiting for an answer, he pushed past Shino and jumped on his bed. Sighing, Shino looked to Hinata and motioned for her to come in so he could close the door.

"Nice room you got here." Kiba said lazily wall giving it a once over.

"All the rooms are the same. Except for Shikamaru's." Tenten commented nonchalantly.

"So?" Kiba asked.

"I was just saying. You don't need to be defensive."

'Darn it, saw through my shield' "Yah, well…leave me alone." Kiba _actually_ said defensively. 

Changing the subject, Hinata quickly asked, "Does anyone want to go get something to eat? I didn't eat much at supper, so I'm kind of hungry."

"Sure." Shino supplied.

"No thanks, I ate enough, even though I had to haul your past-out butt up to your room." Tenten answered with a grin and a wink at Hinata.

Giving Hinata a questioning look, then returning at once to oblivious demeanor, Kiba said, "You know I'm in!"

"Well, see you guys later. I'll probably be asleep by the time you get back Shino."

"Ok." And with that, Team 8 left the room leaving a tired Tenten to wait for sleep.

Turning off the light, Tenten dropped her magazine onto the floor and rolled over, pulling her covers up to her neck. Inhaling deeply, she closed her eyes and waited for unconsciousness to come. When she had just reached cat-nap level, a load knock came ringing through the room.

"Holy son of-" Tenten muttered loudly, getting up and stomping angrily to the door. "What?!" She demanded, whipping it open.

"I'm staying here." Neji said while pushing past her and making himself comfortable on her bed.

"Excuse me? Why can't you stay in your room?"

"Naruto. Snores. Loud." Neji said, taking off his socks and putting his feet under the blankets.

"You're not staying in that bed! You get the floor, either that or borrow a cot. That's mine." Neji pouted at this. "I can't believe you just did that. You're _Neji_."

"Oh, but I thought you liked those moments during away missions in the tents when you and I-"

"Shut up!" Tenten screeched, clearly embarrassed at what he was implying, though it never happened, but inside she wished it had.

"Fine, I'll get a cot…sheesh." He mumbled.

* * *

Sasuke sat at his dining room table with his brother Itachi while his mother did dishes in the sink.

"Will you practice shurikan throwing with me brother?"

"No, I'm busy."

Flash!

"Die!" Sasuke charged his brother with the intent to kill, chidori rapidly forming in his hand. Suddenly he was up against the wall, held by his collar while Itachi lowered his face dangerously close to his brother's.

"Foolish Little Brother…You lack Hatred."

Flash!

Seeing smoke, Sasuke ran as fast as he could toward his house. Entering the complex, he searched rapidly for his family, "Mom…Dad…Itachi?!"

Flash!

His parents. On the floor. Dead. By Itachi's hand.

"Brother…why?"

"…Sharingan…"

"MOM!!! DAD!!!"

"Wha-" Suddenly Temari was pulled into a bone crushing hug. "U-chi-ha!"

"Mom…Dad!" Sasuke sobbed hysterically, pulling Temari closer and closer, thinking it was his parents.

They sat like that for a full ten seconds before Sasuke quieted a bit and pulled his face out of a bewildered Temari's shoulder. His eyes widened in dismay as he quickly realized his mistake and he immediately pulled his arms back as though they were on fire and rolled over in his bed, facing away from Temari. "What do you want?" he asked testily.

"WELL, _you_ were the one who hugged _me_. I just came over to wake you up because you were disturbing my sleep. All I could here was 'Itachi, Itachi', so don't blame me if you're embarrassed." Temari stated, moving away from Sasuke's bed and getting back into her own.

Minutes passed with no sound until, "Thank you."

"Your welcome Uchiha."

* * *

It was now almost two in the morning, and the Sand boys and their unfortunate roommate had yet to fall asleep, due to Kankuro's and Gaara's arguments. 

"Will you get your stuff off my bed!"

"I need more space. This is not sufficient."

"Put it on the floor."

"Could you two quit it, I'm trying to sleep." The two brothers turned towards Shikamaru and glared at him. "Or not…" The boy rolled back over in his bed and stared at the black wall. He was contemplating on the best way to fall asleep, when a knock came at the door. "For the love of-"

"I'll get it." Surprisingly, this came from Gaara and he got up from his bed and opened the door. "What do you want?"

Temari stood in the doorway in a silk nighty that just reached her knees. It was peach colored and you could tell she'd had it along time because of the bare and scruffy spots, adding on to the almost see-through material (however, she was wearing undergarments).

"Well, Uchiha woke me up because he was talking in his sleep, and apparently Hinata can't hear, because next door Lee was counting his push-ups extremely loud and enthusiastically, then he decided he'd take a shower, at this ungodly hour of the night- er morning I guess it is now..." She trailed off, then picked back up again, "So, basically, I can't sleep. I figured, might as well check on my brothers, you know, make sure they aren't killing each. Besides, when ever I look at Gaara, it makes me sleepy." Gaara said nothing, but Kankuro exploded on her.

"What are you doing wearing that?! Uchiha didn't see that, did he? We have another person in the room! We shouldn't even see, let alone him!" Kankuro shot his finger in the direction of Shikamaru, then let it fall to his side in a huff.

"Well, he's not making any protests, is he?" Here Temari winked at Shikamaru, who instantly turned away, partly to hide the blush and partly to not break under Kankuro's evil gaze.

"Heh." Gaara mumbled, an amused expression on his face. "If Temari wants to where revealing clothes in front of people, let her. It is not of our concern." Kankuro gave his bother a bewildered look, at the same time making some obscene hand gesture, then sat down on his bed angrily, turning away, but instantly calming down with a smirk.

"I didn't do this on purpose!" Temari said, crossing her arms over her chest in a protective fashion, "I didn't even think about him." Shikamaru finally turned back to her, offering a smirk, then rolled over in his bed. Temari sat on the end, facing Gaara and Kankuro, then began to tell them a story about something pertaining to her fan, while Shikamaru smiled at the warmth on his feet. He fell asleep to the sound of Temari's ecstatic voice.

_

* * *

_

_Next Chapter: Exploring the Hotel: Mayhem and... Murder!?!_

_A/N: Nothing much to say here besides sorry for the late update! I just couldn't find any inspiration, seriously! I'm one of those people that can't write or draw without some sort of inspiration or material to give me an idea. I don't know when the next chapter will be out, but hopefully sooner! -SunnyHinata_

Edit: I went back and fixed the grammer mistakes. I also added a couple little details, but it's not a big deal so I wouldn't bother re-reading it. I hope Sasuke didn't seem too OC, but what can ya do? Anyways, there will be fighting to come, especially after the next couple of chapters, giving the genin a chance to show off their mad skills. Next Chapter is going ot be about Team 8 and surprisingly (cough) enough, Tenten and Neji. I'm not going to give away the story, but you can probably guess what is going to happen by the title. I was watching a movie called The Glass House and I got inspired. I also got some inspiration from one of the Pheonix Wright games. They are the bomb, but SOO hard! (oh yah, this is how observant I am; I didn't even know that fanfiction (dot) net HAD a spell check button. What and idiot...) Review people! and tell me if you would rather have SasuSaku or KibaSaku...I prefer SasuSaku, but I want to know what people think...


	4. Exploring the Hotel: Mayhem and Murder?

**Of Hotels and Roommates Chapter 4: Exploring the Hotel: Mayhem and... Murder!?!**

_(((Being with a group of people can be annoying, but there are ways to get through it. You can ignore everything they say, you can pretend to listen, or you can actually listen and take the randomness and crudity. These people are hard to listen to and easy to understand._

_But some groups of people aren't annoying. They are considerate, they don't bore you with stories, and they don't tell rude jokes. These people are easy to listen to, but are extremely complex on the inside. Just when you think you've figured them out, they surprise you with something new and equally challenging to understand._

_And then there are people who fall under both categories. People who tell interesting stories, but corny jokes. People who listen to what you have to say, but then get the wrong idea about you. People who are your friends, and then people who are your **friends**. Those people are the hardest to understand and the hardest to listen to.)))_

Hinata was fortunate (or unfortunate, depending on how you look at it) enough to have the third opinion of her teammates. Kiba was understanding when he wanted to be, but other times inconsiderate with his lack of dignity. Shino was quiet and listened to her, but there were rare occurrences when he would ignore you all together. Maybe it could be because he'd had enough of your rambling, or maybe he just decided that he was going to listen to himself for a change (possibly his shoes were on just a bit too tight, or maybe his head wasn't screwed on just right). Not being rude, both were strange. But they were her teammates, her friends, and (in a way) her family.

It was now 11 o'clock, past what she would usually stay up, and right now Hinata wanted nothing more than to smack her dog-related family member until he calmed down. But this is Hinata we're talking about, so she let it slide with a smile as she and Shino walked beside each other while Kiba sniffed around like a dog (so to speak).

"Hey guys," Kiba started, falling back into step with his teammates, "Even though it's getting late, why don't we explore the hotel a bit more. You know, see all this place has to offer?" Kiba picked of his dog friend Akamaru and slid him inside his jacket hood.

"Kiba, we barely found the food expo. We don't want to get lost, or we would be unfortunate enough to not get any sleep tonight." Shino intoned.

"I don't know…" Hinata offered.

"Come on! We won't get lost." Kiba pleaded with puppy eyes.

Sigh "…_fine_…" Shino said.

"Nice! So…which way first?" The lights seemed to shine brighter as the three approached a triple-hallway intersection. The first way went to the left, leading the genin back to their rooms, and the second and third were undiscovered.

"Well, I want to go right, but I don't think we should. I often times just get that feeling to go right. I don't know why." Kiba commented, staring into space as he does sometimes.

"Hinata." Shino stated, not bothering to look at her.

"R-right." Hinata activated her Byakugan, looking down each individual hallway. "Oh!" Hinata shut her blood-trait off, quickly turning away as if she could still see.

"Honeymooners?" Kiba asked, glancing to the left at Hinata, who nodded a 'yes'.

"So, which one should we choose?" Shino started, changing the subject.

Hinata turned her Byakugan back on, looking down the each of the drags again. White washed over her vision as she 'zoomed' in closer. "Well, the left one has our rooms-" Hinata started hopefully, quickly being interrupted by Kiba.

"Boring! Next." Hinata turned her eyes to the second hallway.

"The center one has leads to the lobby." she directed her eyes to the right most hallway. "And finally, the last hallway has the managers quarters, I would say."

"I want the last one. Maybe we can catch that creepy guy with the pole hair doing something he shouldn't." Kiba said mischievously, rubbing his hands together.

"We are here to explore, not cause mayhem."

"Shino, you saying 'mayhem' just made my day."

"Enjoy it while it lasts, because there is approximately forty-five minutes left until the dawn of a new day."

"What, do you have a personal 'agenda' or something that tells you everything?"

"I might-"

"Umm…could we go now please? I don't want to cause attention and wake up sleeping people…" Hinata said meekly, looking anywhere but at the two.

"Ok." Kiba said. "I've decided I want the middle one."

"Fine." Shino said, only agreeing so they could move on. The three started down the middle hallway, walking lightly on the rug-covered floors. The rug did most of the work; absorbing all sounds made by the three, save for their breathing.

As they approached the lobby, Shino, Kiba and Hinata heard yelling emitting from the room, "What do you mean there are no cots left? No way!" A girl's frustrated voice penetrated through the whole room.

Tenten and Neji stood at the lobby's counter. The former looked extremely perturbed, while the latter look significantly bored with the whole thing. "Miss, please. If you just wait for a short period we will be able to get one brought over from one of our neighbor inns. It will take a half hour tops, so please calm down.," the attendant said. Tenten 'hmfed' and backed away from the counter, turning to face Neji.

"This isn't even worth the trouble. I'll just sleep on the floor.," an exasperated Tenten said.

"Fine."

"_Fine?_ That's all you have to say?!" Tenten turned away from Neji, facing the direction where team 8 was hidden in the 'shadows.' "Hinata?" she asked, squinting at said girl.

"Yes, 'tis us." Kiba announced, pulling Shino by the arm as he and Hinata trudged over to the counter from the passage. "We have come seeking adventure in the form of checking out the hotel."

"In other words, would you like to come with us seeing as how you have to wait a while for the cot?" Hinata asked.

"Well," Tenten started, glancing over at the counter, "I _was_ just going to sleep on the floor, but I guess I could come. Where _are_ you guys going anyway?"

"Well, we don't really know ourselves. We thought that it would be a good idea to get familiar with this place, so tomorrow we could show everyone where to go if they were looking for a certain place-"

"Such as a bathroom, or maybe even a game room." Shino finished for Hinata.

"Right," Kiba said. "So are you guys coming, or…?" Kiba looked at the two members of Team Gai expectantly, eyeing them up and down. Akamaru jumped from his place in Kiba's hood to the floor, the trotted over to Tenten, sniffing her leg.

"I suppose so. It's not like I have anything better to do." Neji said while shrugging. He looked to Tenten as if asking, 'You going?' She rolled her eyes in reply.

The brown-haired girl and her teammate abandoned the counter, and were about to leave with the others when the manager called out to them; "Wait! Take this." Tenten doubled back and received a small, circular device decorated with lights. "That will start to buzz and the lights will flash when the cot arrives. Don't get into too much trouble now!" he finished, waving the kids off. Poor, poor, naive man. He had no idea what was coming.

* * *

Rounding a corner, the five ninjas and the nindog strolled down the antechamber, not pausing for a second. That is, until they heard strange clanking noises coming from one of the rooms. Peoples voices pierced through the door and walls. One voice was male, low and growling, while a second was also male, but slightly higher in tone. A third was mumbling something incoherent. 

"What-" Tenten started, but was quickly pushed away from the door by Neji. He activated his Byakugan, as did Hinata, and the pair looked closely through the walls.

"Two short, dark men. One lighter color male-"

"Ch-chained to a bed." Hinata finished for her cousin. '_Fully clothed_…_thank goodness_.' Hinata deactivated her Byakugan and glanced over at Shino. Nodding his head in acknowledgement, Shino released four of his kikai bugs from his hand. They flew under the door, and planted them selves onto each of the men. The leftover one latched itself onto the bed post. Kiba picked up Akamaru, placing him back in the safety of his hood.

"I don't sense much chakra coming from the two men, but the chained one…" Hinata trailed off, marveling at how much chakra the third man had.

"Both of the shorter men have a kunai in hand, while the one handcuffed to the bed has no weapons." Neji stated.

"Let's take them out." Kiba whispered eagerly. Akamaru nipped in agreement.

"We do not know what they want. The man on the bed could be the true villain. No, we must gather more information. Get a good smell of the gentlemen on the bed, Akamaru. You too Kiba" Shino said. Kiba nodded in response, channeling chakra into his nose and finding the man in questions sent.

"One of the men is approaching the chained one. He's holding out his kunai knife." Neji narrated.

"We want the information, you understand Yagami?" The closest man whispered to the chained man with black hair. The dark haired man wore a black tank top and black cargo pants. A straw hat donned his head, shielding his eyes from the two men in suits.

"You are not getting any information out of me, do _you _understand? Release me and I might let you live Zaki." Yagami said, twisting his hands furiously.

"You are in no position to make bargains. Now, because of your insolence, you die." Zaki said, pulling his arm back to attack Yagami. In the split second it took for Zaki to launch his arm at Yagami, Yagami was behind Zaki, chaining his hands together with his own handcuffs. Smirking, he spun around to face the second bewildered man and sent a sweeping kick to his abdomen. The second thug went down hard, flying back a few feat, nailing the wall behind him. He slumped against it, unconscious.

"How did you get out?" the handcuffed man asked relatively calmly.

"Escape Jutsu. Very basic." Yagami bent over the unconscious man, taking his kunai. Excepting his fate, Zaki stood were he was, not even bothering to flinch when a kunai was held to his throat. He was pulled into a head lock, getting the wind knocked out of him by a punch to the stomach. His face slowly turned blue as Yagami held his throat tight, prolonging the agony. "Now, you die."

"Are you sure you want to kill him?" A new person asked, holding a kunai up to Yagami's throat.

"So, you were one of the bugs I sensed out in the hallway." Yagami let his arm drop from Zaki's neck. Zaki fell to the floor, due to lack of oxygen

"That term is redundant." Shino droned, not taking his weapon from Yagami's throat. With his other hand he called back his bugs, all except the one on Yagami, which oddly enough, was nowhere to be seen. "Fool." Shino slashed across the man's neck, which turned out to be one of the room's numerous tall lamps.

Quickly checking the room for enemies, the boy clad in a long gray coat jumped out of the room. "Neji." he said, sending out an internal-connected order to one of his bugs. The bug in question bit Neji, who activated his Byakugan beneath dirty towels inside a massive cloth container a few hallways over. He searched through the walls, examining each room with care. No sign of the straw hat man.

"Kiba." Three hallways over, Kiba pulled off his blending cloth, jumped to the center of the hallway and began sniffing the air around him. Letting Akamaru out of his jacket, he jetted down the hallway, inhaling rapidly through his nose. Nothing.

"Tenten, Hinata." The two females pelted down the hall, double checking each room for a break in the genjutsu. Finding none, they slowed their pace to a brisk run and arrived to greet Shino with an answer of; "No problems."

Shino nodded, then motioned for Hinata to check the room he had just stepped out of with her Byakugan. She did, and finding that there were no traps, all three ambled into it.

Tenten check both of the men's vital signs. Tenten pronounced the first man unconscious just as Neji and Kiba stepped into the room. Unfortunately, Zaki was unable to recover from the oxygen loss and had died sometime between the attack on him and Neji and Kiba's return.

"That bastard." Kiba said punching the wall.

"Hinata, Kiba, and Tenten; release the genjutsu on all of the rooms, but put on over this one. Neji, you and I shall talk to the manager about this." Shino ordered.

"Yes." Everyone answered, leaving at a fast pace to do their jobs. There was going to be hell to pay for Yagami.

* * *

_**Notes: Wow, I'm a loser. I haven't updated this for awhile. I didn't even realize how long it had been since I had originally posted Chapter 3. I feel so stupid especially since there are people that write about twice as much as I do for one chapter and update twice as fast! One more thing; I would never abandon a story without saying so, so no one should get worked up. If you read the author notes and review, I want you to put the exact words "Pickle Power" In your review.**_


	5. Animals in the Elevator Literally!

_Disclaimer: None of the songs mentioned in here are mine, and all belong to their respectable owners.

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**Of Hotels and Roommates Chapter 5: Animals in the Elevator...Literally!**

_After the fiasco in the mysterious room, the head manager informed no one of what had happened. Only a select few people from the hotel knew the whole story, but the next morning, a select few more had been graciously informed._

"The end. That's all that happened, really, besides the fact that Hinata was watching two people go at it-" Shino slapped his male teammate on the arm, then retracted it as if Kiba were the plague.

"You were what?" Sakura asked, leaning over from her seated position and staring Hinata in the eyes…well, mostly in the hands, because the traumatized girl had put her face in them.

"She did not, she was merely checking hallways and came across a newly-married couple. That is all." Shino said curtly. Despite what the boy had explained, Naruto looked at Hinata in interest, as though there were nothing more fascinating then hearing about her peaking on honeymooners.

"Stop staring!" Sakura commanded, hitting Naruto in the head, as he was currently seated next to her. Grabbing his head, Naruto turned to glare at her as though she had never been his former crush, then murmured something pertaining to, 'You don't have to hit me.'

"Hypocrite." Ino stated, leaning back in her chair and clasping her hands together behind her head.

"She is true Sakura." Lee said, looking a bit sheepish. Sakura said nothing but glared over at Ino, brushing off Lee's comment with a clearing of her throat.

"What a drag… will you guys just be quiet?" That comment from Shikamaru had Ino sending _him_ a glare, which he returned with a slight scowl.

"Enough of this. You guys are so annoying." Kankuro said, leaning back in his chair much the way that Ino had.

"Speak for yourself." Temari said, tapping her fan against her knee.

"Amen." Sasuke mumbled, turning to look out one of the room's windows. Most all of the genin (and Shikamaru) were seated inside of Sakura's and Choji's room, except Choji himself, Tenten, Neji, and Gaara. Choji, as many could have guessed, was down in the expo by himself having a snack, while Neji and Tenten were trying to get their cot situation under control (the frustrated kunochi ended up sleeping on the floor…and Naruto slept peacefully all night). As for Gaara, he just didn't want to come and socialize with people.

The room was silent for a few more seconds. All that could be heard was the songs of the grasshoppers. Naruto decided that the tranquility was too much. "Let's tell stories!" he suggested.

"Yah! Shino, you can tell about that one time we went on that mission out in the fields beyond the Hokage mountain and that girl thought that you and I-"

"No." Shino said, adjusting his sunglasses.

"Well, _fine. _Any one else got anything good to tell?" Kiba asked eagerly, gazing around the room

"Wait! If we're telling stories, we've got to get snacks!" Naruto said, jumping out of his seat to approach the door.

"This is true," Shino said, "Will anyone volunteer to go with Naruto to the snack machine?" Hinata pulled her hands off her face and glanced up at Naruto, then took the time to admire her toes that were sticking out from beneath her sandals.

"Hinata does!" Kiba announced, reaching his hand behind Shino and pushing hard on Hinata's back. The poor girl gave off a squeak as she tumbled to the floor. "Oops…my bad…" Kiba apologized. Hinata shook her head and stood up, shuffling over to the door with her eyes focused intently on the floor

"I think I'll go too." Temari said, rising from her position and setting her fan on Sakura's bed.

"Yah, and I'm going to go see if Gaara is done being a hermit." Kankuro said, getting up as well and stepping to stand next to everyone beside the door.

"I'll go get Choji." Shikamaru supplied, brushing past everyone and opening the door.

"Well what do you want us to do while you're gone? Play tiddly-winks?" Ino asked indignantly as she crossed her arms.

"I'm going to be gone for five minutes, _tops_. You'll survive." he replied, stepping outside and waving a fake goodbye. Just as the rest were about to leave, Neji and Tenten came ambling up the hallway. The girl was in good spirits while Neji looked less than thrilled with whatever had happened.

"What did we miss?" Tenten asked cheerfully while stepping inside and dragging Neji along with her.

"Well, half of us are leaving only to return in a few minutes, then we're telling stories, no matter how impossible it seems that we all silently agreed to do so." Shino said, not moving his head to give any indication that he cared about the situation at all.

"Oh." The brown haired girl let go of Neji and sat down on the floor, just content to wait for the others to come back.

"_Alright_. We are leaving _now. Bye." _Temari said, dipping her words in annoyance.

"Don't forget to buy pretzels." Sakura told them. Sasuke turned to give her an odd look. Never before had she shown interest in one of his favorite foods, which just then struck him as odd considering she used to be a total fangirl on him. "What? I like pretzels…"

The genin left the room, just catching Shikamaru as he disappeared to the next hallway. Kankuro parted from the other three and went right as Shikamaru had, while the rest went left on Hinata's suggestion. "There is… an elevator in the next hallway that will take us to the snack floor."

"Right!" Naruto mimed cheerfully, whistling a tune as the three strolled. When they arrived at the place of discord, Naruto pressed the up button, signaling the mechanical device to come pick them up. With a _clang!_ it arrived. All three stepped into the contraption.

"So…which floor?" Temari asked, taking note of the music that was playing from some hip radio station that she had listened to before. Well, at least she thought she had listened to it.

"Umm…" Hinata supplied, looking at the numerous buttons that dotted the side of the elevator.

"Well, this is quite a predicament that we are in." Naruto said, smoothing his hair while using a British accent.

"There must be something that tells us what is on each floor." Temari said, trying to break some new ground. All three stared at the buttons for a few moments. The elevator was silent, save for the song '_Taking Chances' _that was playing in the background, adding to the ambiance.

"The song is right." Naruto said, stepping forward and pressing a few buttons. "Let's see where that takes us." The elevator shifted into gear and propelled them up the shaft.

"Umm…I don't think you are…supposed to press three buttons, Naruto…" Hinata said, looking from her shoes to the buttons that the boy had pressed.

"What? Oh, you're right! I probably have to press more." Naruto began pressing all the buttons, causing the elevator to fly up at an immense speed, and then jerk down slightly, sending the three onto the floor.

"Naruto…" Hinata said, rubbing her head she had hit off the wall of the miniature 'room' they were in.

"Uhh…. What?" he said sheepishly, getting up and offering a hand to her. She excepted shyly and then turned to look at Temari who was already standing beside her seeming only _somewhat _annoyed.

"Wow, that had to take some brains." she commented wryly, examining her fingernails.

"Yah…well… your mother!" he snapped, crossing his arms.

"Umm, maybe we should just go back to the room." Hinata suggested.

"No way! I want gummy bears! …and… uh, Sakura wants pretzels." Naruto supplied weakly. He reached out to press more buttons when Temari caught his hand.

"I'll be doing the button pressing from now on." She said. Naruto grumbled, but stepped back anyway, allowing Temari to take center stage and work her magic on the mysterious machine.

((In the dark, a mysterious claw reached forward and plunged itself into a circuit breaker.))

The kunochi thrust her arm forcibly onto the _one_ button and pressed it twice. Nothing happened. Temari growled, pushing them again. Nothing happened. Again.

"_Ohhhhkay_." she said in an irritated fashion. Defeated, she stepped back and eyed the pieces of her misfortune. Surprisingly, Naruto said nothing, not even offering a smirk. Hinata looked at the contraption with a puzzled expression. The song '_Stand my Ground' _played in the background. Figures; the least important thing about the elevator (the radio) works. "I suppose we're stuck here until someone in the hotel figures out that we've gone missing and then finds a way to get this thing to work."

"I'm not standing for this!" Naruto said. To prove his point, he sat down on the floor and lent up against the side of the elevator.

"Umm.. there is an emergency escape hatch on the ceiling." Hinata said, indicating the point with her finger.

((A new set of hands made a few inns, sealing a small hole without a sound.))

"Brilliant!" Naruto yelled, jumping up and standing in a fighting position. Hinata blushed lightly as he made the hand signs. "Kage-Bunshin!" A doppelganger appeared beside him. The real Naruto cupped his hands and motioned for the clone to stand in them. "Just unlatch that opening up there." He commanded. The copy nodded and stepped onto Naruto, who lifted him up to reach the ceiling. He felt around the sides of the little door blindly. Finding no openings, he pounded on it hard. Nothing happened.

"Nothing boss." The clone said. He jumped out of Naruto's hands onto the elevator floor before poofing out of existence.

"I guess I'll just have to destroy it then…" Naruto said, starting to pool some chakra into his hand.

"You can't do that! We might get in trouble for it, then the hotel would make us pay for the damage." Temari said quickly, stopping Naruto from his ruthless attack. "And you can't break the door either." Naruto sighed heavily, barely believing that he was actually listening to someone else.

(( Snickering quietly, the same figure that sealed the hole cast a powerful genjutsu on himself and his female partner. Both masking their chakra signatures, they hid quietly in the eves of a shaft.))

Hinata activated her Byakugan, checking out the surrounding walls and in turn looking for a way out. Nothing came into view, so she deactivated her bloodlimit. It was times like this that she wished her father or Kurenai had taught her a teleportation jutsu.

* * *

Three troubled ninja each handled the situation of being stuck in a different way. For Naruto it was laying flat out on the floor, staring at the ceiling. For Temari it was leaning on the railing and closing her eyes. As for Hinata, she sat on the floor and lent up against the wall, singing softly to her favorite song '_Clocks._' 

As soon as the current song ended, a fast paced one started up quickly, drawing Naruto's attention. Electric guitar and drums roared to life on the intro. "Oh man! I love this song!" he said enthusiastically. Jumping up he began to "Bada ba da ba!" to the music. Suddenly the music launched into it's first verse. Not really knowing the words too well, Naruto mostly replaced the song with random sounds.

"I, I'm driving badada; Just got my license back; I've got this feeling lalala la lalala lala!" he said. The boy began to dance around the secluded space.

'Does he even know what this song is implying?' Temari asked herself. She shook her head as Naruto's dance slowed to a stop when the first verse ended and the chorus came on in full swing. He began to 'sing' again, only this time he approached Hinata. Temari watched in mild interest, waiting to see how the seated girl would react. 

"We're never gonna quit, just actin' like we're animals!" Naruto said.

'Apparently not.' Temari said, laughing silently at the two leaf shinobi. The male one reached down an pulled the female up by her arm, then began to bump his hip against hers. The girl stared at the ground, trying not to look mortified at physical contact. 

"Come on Hinata! Dance with me!" He said, abandoning the bump and swinging his hips in a circle. The girl squeaked as Naruto decided to start a pelvis-thrust revolution (though luckily not in her direction).

Finally the whole situation was too much for Temari and she doubled over, laughing hard. Naruto seemed not to notice as he moved into a sort of Charlie Brown dance. He then began to slide side to side, searching for a hip to bump.

Coughing, the sand female finally finished her fit and stood up, trying to look innocent while thinking, 'Where's a video camera when I need one?' Then, seeing Naruto, she burst into a fit of giggles again and looked over at Hinata for some sort of reassurance that Naruto wasn't about to spontaneously combust. Hinata said nothing, due to the fact that she was facing the wall. She wasn't aware that Temari was looking at her, but in her opinion, there was nothing to see at the moment anyway.

With one last, 'We're just a couple animals!' The song came to an end and Naruto stopped dancing.

Hinata faced forward again a lent up against the wall. Looking up, she noticed something new to the elevator, like it hadn't been there before. A small box only the size of a hand was stuck to the wall, just above the entrance. She stood on her toes and pulled it off, opening it up with care. Inside was a folded up piece of paper. She opened it carefully as Naruto and Temari approached her. The paper was a list of each of the things that could be used by hotel patrons on every floor!

((Two small figures listened intently through a wall. Finally, they had heard enough and the first one pulled his claw out of a circuit breaker. The second released his sealing technique from a small hatch. The duo each performed a set of hand seals, teleporting themselves to an unknown destination.))

"Wow, how did we _not _see that?" Naruto asked, searching the list for the nearest snack floor. He found it almost instantly and pressed the designated buttons on the elevator's side. Each of the genin was extremely surprised that the machine rose up swiftly, and brought them with it. They got out, and, once they got their snacks, returned back to it and dialed in the numbers for their floor.

As soon as the young teens approached the door, Naruto turned to the girls with a defeated look on his face. "We forgot Sakura's pretzels."

**((Two silhouettes flew down to the ground, landing in front of a small desk. A person from the other side of it acknowledged their presence with a nod of his head and a, "Luna… Natsuri." In exchange, both of the others bowed, getting ready to relay new information to their leader.**

**"Boss Yagami…"))**

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_Random Notes in a Random Order; Well, It pretty much looks like I'm getting around one update a month, which is totally LAME! It could have been out a few days earlier, but I had some basketball games (oh yesssssshhh, last night my team won the championship, beating our rivals by one point! It sucked though because evey frigin time I tried to cut the bucket, there were like three people on me and my point guard kept taking a bunch of threes...) _

_No matter how much it probably didn't make sense that the three shinobi couldn't detect the two invaders (even Hinata with her Byakugan) it happened. _

_Luna is a translation of 'Moon', and I'm almost 100 percent sure that Natsuri means 'Star'._

_The song Naruto sang was Nickelback's Animals._

_Next chapter outline: We will figure out who, or what, Luna and Natsuri are, what became of Gaara, Kankuro, Choji and Shikamaru, and finally all the assumptions made by the remaining genin in Sakura's room._


	6. Filler with Pretzels pt 1

Of Hotels and Roommates Chapter 6: Filler with Pretzels pt. 1

"Gaara?" Kankuro asked, opening the door to his room and shoving the key into his pant pocket. Not seeing anything, he strode over to his bed and then proceeded to flop down onto it. "Gaara, you here?" he questioned again. He heard a grunt come from the floor on the other side of the room. The eldest boy of the sand team stepped around the two beds adorning that side of the room. "What in the world?" 

Gaara was crouched down, basically sitting on the floor. Tape measure in hand, he pulled the end of it out and held it to the wall with little bit of sand. He walked over his and Kankuro's bed with it, then stuck it to the wall. He growled as Kankuro watched in curiosity.

"Just as I thought. According to my calculations they obviously didn't know what they were doing when they tried to put a third bed in this room. I did some research. This room was only made a little bigger because it was on the end of the hallway and they had some extra room. Ingrates, trying to fool us into thinking that just because it is a '_Three person room _with_ Three beds_, and _Slightly larger than the rest,' _that it might be bigger, but no. In total, it's only about two feet longer and that much wider than any other room in this f---ing hotel. I'm going to the manager and force him to give us another room." On that extremely strange note, Gaara left the room, leaving Kankuro to stare blankly at the wall and try to collect his thoughts.

The sane sibling left the room and headed back for Sakura's. "The sign was a bit corny…I guess."

* * *

Shikamaru entered into the expo, searching each of the seats for his rotund friend, and possibly a stack of plates. Over in the corner Choji sat, back to his friend. Someone else was there too, sitting across from the boy. No plates were on the table, but there was a small pile of something orange colored sitting in front of Choji.

Curious, Shikamaru walked slowly over to his teammate, observing the person near him. He could tell she was female, just by the way she held herself. The girl was dressed in an autumn leaf-print dress, with a shawl to match, as it covered her shoulders. She was sipping something out of a coffee cup as she talked to Choji.

Shikamaru stepped up beside his friend and tapped him on the shoulder. Choji turned his head to him. "Oi, we're going to be telling some stories in your room, and I figured that _may_be you'd want to be there." The former said, trying to look as if telling the stories wouldn't offer any entertainment. He observed the woman out of the corner of his eye, judging her to be around the age of thirty. She pretended not to notice and continued to quietly sip her drink contently.

"This is Arigaku." The girl in question turned her head up and smiled at Shikamaru while offering a hand.

"Nice to meet you Shikamaru, assuming that _is_ your name, am I right?" he nodded and shook her hand, then let his arm fall to the side. "Choji told me about you. Said you were his best friend." Shikamaru nodded his head slowly, and then looked at Choji as if asking, _'So, are you coming?'_

"I can't come… unless I can bring Arigaku with me?" Choji half-asked, looking at said girl with admiration.

"That's ok, I've to get going anyway. Got a meeting at one o'clock, and I don't want to be late." she said, rising from her seat. Choji watched her curiously while Shikamaru asked the obvious question.

"It will take you that long to get ready? It's only eleven." he said, trying not to be suspicious.

"Darling, a woman needs hours to be primped to perfection, and even then it's not enough." she joked sarcastically. "You want me to throw those away for you hun?" She pointed to what Shikamaru know realized were orange peals.

"Naw, I'll get them." Choji said, standing up and piling the peals into his hands.

"Alright. See you later then!" she said. And with that goodbye, she retreated out of the room.

Choji tossed the peals into the garbage behind him, then left the room with Shikamaru. "Besides something to do with her name, do you know anything about that woman? She seems kinda fishy, even though she was so nice…" Shikamaru said, putting his hands in his pockets.

"Well, she's a health food consultant. Her meeting was probably something to do with the food here." Choji answered, launching into their meeting description. "She saw that I was going up to the counters and then that I had grabbed a whole tray's worth of food, so she stopped me. We got to talking, and the whole time I only ate an orange. I was kinda surprised that my stomach wasn't growling or anything."

"I know your situation. You having food is like a diabetic needing sugar."

"Exactly. And you know what? I'm not even hungry now. She gave me some great tips to curve my hunger. I feel better already!" And with renewed vigor (mostly on Choji's part) Choji pulled out his electric key and stuck it in the door, and he and his best friend entered.

* * *

"So, what have you two found out?" Yagami asked. Luna and Natsuri adjusted themselves, tucking their long, black wings along side their bodies. The latter stepped forward and produced a scroll.

"There was nothing much of interest. The female from the sand did not show abnormal abilities, nor did the blonde that dressed in orange, save for a shadow clone." he said, staring strait into his caller's eyes.

"A shadow clone? Really..." Yagami said, sounding as if he had just remembered something. "Go on." This time Luna stepped forward.

"The two you were talking about… one was there. The girl. She was small, but she activated her bloodline, trying to find us. Good thing mother and father taught us the concealing jutsu." she said. Natsuri handed the scroll to Yagami, who opened it.

"It contains all the information we've discovered from observing K." Natsuri said. "We've got to be going now. I guess call us if you need anything." The two bat summons spun around, disappearing as they did so.

"Very good…"

* * *

"God, what is taking them so long?"

"Sakura, they've only been gone five minutes." Ino said. The pink haired girl let off a small grumble. She got up from her chair and jumped onto her bed, reaching over the side to grab her book bag. She zipped it open and pulled out a small package of pretzels, then sat back in her seat grumpily, munching on her prize.

"Why do you want new ones when you have those?" Kiba asked, giving her a strange look.

"These are spares for when I can't get any for awhile." she answered, throwing a stick-like pretzel at him.

Around this time, Sasuke's stomach was beginning to growl. Normally he would just suppress these feelings of hunger, but since Sakura was _right there_ and had a food he liked, he decided to just be a normal kid for once and ask for a few. "Sakura."

"Hm?" she asked, not even bothering to look at him.

"Give me some pretzels." he commanded lightly, sticking his hand out to her. On Sakura's blind side Ino could be seen giving a throat cutting motion.

"How about no Mildred?"

"Sakura, _give me the pretzels."_

"_No_." she said adamantly. Sasuke stood up, trying to make himself look intimidating.

"Give me the pretzels and I might not smack you." Everyone in the room kind of looked at Sasuke, looked away, looked at him, then looked away one more time, extremely confused as to why he'd say something like that. Even Shino, Lee, Tenten and Neji (who at this point have had no lines) looked kind of perplexed.

"Smack me? Bitch please. You don't dare touch me." she returned. As you can tell, when it comes to pretzels, Sakura is like a pregnant woman that craves the scent of gain.

"She did not just say that." Tenten whispered to Neji and Lee.

"She did." Shino said from the other side of the room. Kiba stared open mouthed at the girl. At this particular moment, Choji and Shikamaru stepped inside the room, fallowed shortly after by Kankuro, who had not brought Gaara with him. All three stood still at the door, waiting to see what would happen.

"What!?" Sasuke asked, reaching in front of her to grab the pretzels. Sakura pulled them away at the last second; elbowing Sasuke's arm and sending it back to him. "I'll say it again: Give me the pretzels, or I'll smack you."

"Save it for bed tonight." she said, knowing that would get Sasuke super ticked off. Even though everyone knew nothing of the sort had happened or would occur (except for Sasuke who thought they thought she was telling the truth), they all stared at Sakura as if she had just done something completely out of character, which she had.

'Wow, what a vision.' Sasuke froze on the spot, and then turned away pretending to gag. "I don't want any of _those _things at all." he said, sitting back down and looking intently out the window. 

"What, the pretzels or sex?"

"Sakura!" Lee said, gawking at her through his huge eyes. Ino decided that Sakura had done enough talking, so she reached over and in a blink of an eye Sakura's pretzels were in Ino's hands.

'How did she get the pretzels when I couldn't?' Sasuke thought, now watching Ino. 

"Now would be a good time to mention than if Sakura gets irritable, she starts talking like people that think they are black."

"What do you mean by 'black?" Tenten asked, fingering a snap on her pants.

"I don't really know. That's how her mom describes it. Now Sakura," the blonde said, holding the food just out of Sakura's reach, "If you want these back, promise to be good."

"I will be!"

"I don't believe it. Say it."

Sakura moaned, but made no protest. "Ino, who is superior to me in every way, I will be good." Satisfied, Ino tossed the bag back to Sakura and smirked at Sasuke, who was sitting bewildered. The rest of the boys in the doorway took their respective seats, each giving Sakura a strange glance.

"All I'm saying is that people shouldn't be afraid to say words like 'sex' when they are young. It's not like it's a bad thing. It keeps the world turning." Sakura argued, making a spinning motion with her hand and then tossing a pretzel in the air, catching it between her two front teeth.

"It's true." Neji said painfully, actually making an effort in communicating with everyone. He had decided directly after Sakura had received her pretzels that he would participate in the next conversation, no matter what the topic of discussion.

"I remember when Kurenai-sensei talked to us about that stuff." Kiba said, reminiscing about the so called 'good old days', which really weren't that good, considering every time Kurenai had tried to say anything, Kiba would immediately turn away, Shino would preoccupy himself with watching random birds almost fly into trees, and Hinata would turn really red and faint, or mumble incoherently. Or both.

"Well, I knew everything that Asuma would have said, even _if _he had talked to us. But, evidently Kurenai had suspicions that he wouldn't even bring it up, so she made our team and Sakura's team go to one of those sex-ed classes. They were a nightmare, seriously. You guys were lucky." Ino said, giving Shino and Kiba pointed looks. Sakura burst out laughing, rolling up her bag of pretzels and tossing them onto her bed.

"Dude, that was the best day I've ever had." Sakura said. "Not the class, but afterwards Kakashi took us to the mall."

"More like you forced him to take you to the mall, and then dragged us along." Sasuke said, cringing at the past memories that he had tried so hard to forget.

"Shall we do a flashback?" Sakura asked devilishly.

* * *

Notes: Well, I got this one out about a week earlier than the rest. The funny thing is, I started this chapter on last monday. It is a bit longer than the rest, and it has a cliff hanger (sort of), but I had to stop it somewhere. If you review, please state the words "Grapefruit Gal." 


	7. Filler with Pretzels pt 2

**Of Hotels and Roommates Chapter 7: Filler with Pretzels pt 2**

_Flash back_

_Outside, people mulled around, trying to decide which stores to go into, or find their friends they were supposed to be meeting up with. The fountain in the center of the outside mall sparkled, shooting water into the air. The grass blew in the wind, slightly startling the birds that had rested on the ground._

_"Kakashi sensei, do you like this?" Sakura asked, twirling a navy blue mini dress around. It had slits up the sides, much like her current red one, except obviously shorter, hence the 'mini'._

_"No," Kakashi said, not even bothering to look up from his book. The jounin was leaning up against one of the cylinders supporting the store ceiling, casually flipping pages in his book until he got to one he liked._

_"Well why the heck not?!" she screeched. Sasuke sighed from his seat on the store bench. Leaning on his hands, he looked up at the article of clothing that she held in her hands._

_"Too short," Kakashi and Sasuke said at the same time._

_"Yah!" Naruto announced, jumping out from a clothing rack that stood next to Sasuke. The other three turned to stare at him. Each knew that he had been in there (though they weren't sure why), but him jumping out just seemed to distract them completely._

_"Idiot." Regaining her previous train of thought, she turned back to Sasuke and Kakashi. Naruto found another clothing rack and hid in it. "Obviously I'm going to wear shorts or something under it."_

_"Spandex?" Kakashi asked. Sakura glared at him. "I didn't want to give Lee another reason to like you."_

_"Lee doesn't like Sakura anymore," Naruto said, sticking his squinting face out from the other side of a clothing rack that resided closely behind Sakura._

_"Oh?"_

_"Yes," Sasuke said. Kakashi smiled, clearly amused._

_"How come?"_

_"How should I know?" the raven haired boy said distractedly. Really, he was trying to think up a quick lie he could tell. Quite a while ago he had told Lee that if the bowl-cut boy ever tried to gain Sakura's romantic affections again, Sasuke was going to punch him into next week. Not that Sasuke liked Sakura (of course not, what makes you think that?), he was just tired of Lee's enthusiastic proposals to Sakura asking for dates._

_Surprisingly, the self-proclaimed genius of hard work accepted it with good graces. Lee wasn't scared, he only decided that someone else seemed to like Sakura more than he, so he thought that the other person should get her. After all, Sakura didn't seem to return Lee's affections, and probably never was going to. They were still close friends, however._

_"I was wondering about that myself," Sakura said, finally putting the blue dress back on the rack._

_Naruto popped out of the side of another rack, pulling several shirts off with him. He tripped on the bottom of the frame, tumbling to the ground and burring himself in the shirts. Several customers looked at Naruto, shaking their heads in disgust. The cashier gave him a pointed look, silently telling him to "Watch yourself."_

"And the rest of the day pretty much went like that; Naruto singing random love songs in the background and Kakashi smirking that smirk of his. Sasuke and I were thoroughly annoyed, but I only punched Naruto and Kakashi a few times. Besides being frustrated, the day was pretty excellent." Sakura narrated, letting her crossed leg bounce up and down. "I got a whole crap-load of clothes."

"I was wondering why you didn't seem to like Sakura as much anymore," Tenten said to Lee. Neji nodded, having observed the same thing.

"Ahhhhhh, well I thought since-" Sasuke looked up to glare Lee, who quickly stopped talking. Kankuro and Kiba exchanged a devious glance, while Shikamaru, Choji and Shino sighed quietly.

"The others have been gone for awhile now," Ino wondered allowed, trying to change the subject. She didn't want Sasuke to admit that he liked Sakura, even though she KNEW he didn't, because he liked Ino; he was just to shy to say so. (poor, naive Ino)

"They have been gone a long while, have they not?" Shino conquered, examining the other's faces. Kiba and Sakura nodded their heads in response.

"What do you think they are doing?" Sakura asked.

"A three-" Shino, Sakura and Kankuro whipped their heads towards Kiba, silencing him, therefore stopping the comment. Kiba had the tact to look mildly ashamed. "I was kidding." he mumbled.

"Yah, well it wasn't funny," Kankuro said, glaring at the other scraggly brown-haired boy. "My sister is with them, and she would never do something like that." Shikamaru quietly snuffed, betting that if she really wanted, Temari WOULD do something like that, because he sensed that Temari was a bad girl trying to be good. Being the oldest of the three, she had to practically raise Gaara and Kankuro after Yashamaru died. Their father- er, the Kazekage wasn't much help. "Besides, she's way to young."

"They probably got lost. Naruto would've taken charge and lead them down the wrong hall," Sasuke observed, always pragmatic. Sakura, Ino and Kiba nodded their heads, fully agreeing with that theory.

"No, they went the right way," Shikamaru said. "I saw them when I went to get Choji. With Hinata in the group, I'm sure they at least had a clue what they were doing."

"Maybe we should go find them?" Choji suggested, always the helpful type.

"Naw, they'll sort the whole thing out themselves," Tenten observed, pulling a random kunai out from her shirt. Neji looked at her strangely, to which she replied, "A ninja never lets their guard down." Soon after, she began to twirl it around her finger.

There was a moment of pregnant silence until a loud click sounded, rendering everyone on their guards. The lights went out suddenly, distracting and disorienting half the people in the room. The other half jumped up from their seats, each taking a different post in the room. The lights flickered, then came on to stay. Shino, Sasuke, Neji, Lee and Kankuro took their seats, each still slightly on the alert.

"Man, you guys need to chill." Tenten said, subconsciously keeping her kunai out.

"Weren't you the one that said to be on your guard?" Kankuro brought up, hoping that he could get a rise out of her. His dream was short-lived.

"Well, you don't need to be that paranoid." The lights went off again, then came back on just as quick. The weapon's mistress didn't blink. "Crazy mofos."

* * *

"So if that's all…?" Arigaku edged on, trying to end her meeting. She got up from where she was seated beside a long black table, wrapping her shawl tighter around her.

"Well, we have a couple-"

"Good. Alright then. I'll see you later." The young woman closed the door to the conference room, ignoring the executives shouts from inside.

__

'The lights flickered. Twice.'

Just as this thought struck her, they blinked again, but turned back on at a rapid pace.

_'Three times… something doesn't smell right, and it isn't the tacos we had for lunch.'_

Arigaku turned a corner through one of the numerous hallways. Checking to see if anyone was there, and confirming that there was indeed no one with a quick energy-read, she popped out of existence.

* * *

"I still say they're lost." Ino commented.

"They better not be; Naruto owes me a bag of pretzels, and I'm not leaving this room until I get some." Sakura said abstinently, crossing her arms in a decided fashion.

"It is possible that they are stuck in the elevator, or perhaps one of the youthful hotel attendants required their assistance, or they had to go to the bathroom, or-" Lee began, before rudely being cut off by Tenten.

"We got it." she sighed loudly. It was not as rude as it appeared to be on account of the girl often having to stop her enthusiastic teammate from going off on a tangent, thus rendering herself thoroughly gifted in the art of distracting people who ramble.

"Do you hear that?" Kiba asked. Everyone in the room immediately stopped their various conversations, listening carefully for anything that might be off. They heard nothing.

"No, I think your mind is playing tricks on you." Sasuke said. While the others were relaxed, Shino was still listening intently through the door, by which he was conveniently seated near.

"I hear foot steps." he said. Sakura immediately got exited, jumping up from her chair and running to the door. She stuck her ear to the door, waiting for some indication that it was Naruto. She wasn't disappointed.

"…Forgot Sakura's pretzels…" Could be heard by those closest to the room entrance. Sakura screeched in agony, falling to the ground with a _thud_. Most others in the room slapped their own foreheads, except for Shino who slapped Kiba's, because no one can injure The Shino.

Everyone stared at Sakura for a few seconds before yawning and slowly falling over themselves.

* * *

Guess who feels horrible about herself? Me. Two reasons: 1) It was late, almost two weeks since I said I would update. There's no reason for this, beside not being able to think of something to write. I get on the computer everyday, and yet, here it is, almost SIX WEEKS LATER. 2) It's horrible. There's no substance. I couldn't think of a thing to write. I'd like to say it's neccesary to the plot, but it really isn't, considering I have NO PLOT. It's pretty much just a bunch of boring dialogne. Just, review if you want.


	8. She's a Knockout!

**Of Hotels and Roommates Chapter 8: She's a Knockout!**

Naruto stuck the key into the door anticipating Sakura's scream of rage. It came sooner than he expected, so he open the door and burst in, fallowed closely by Temari and Hinata. What he saw astounded him and his companions.

All the ninja lay on the floor, presumed to be passed out. Without thinking, Naruto jumped to the closest person, who happened to be Sakura, and checked her pulse. Luckily she was alive, just unconscious.

Naruto stood up rapidly, turning to see Hinata and Temari's strangely blank faces. "Can you check the area with your Byakugan Hinata?" Naruto asked the female member of Team 8. She nodded quickly and made a few hand seals, then began to look around the room.

"Shino?" Hinata questioned, looking at him quizzically. He was laid out on the floor, seemingly unadulterated. Slowly he turned his head towards her, expression neutral.

"Knockout gas," he said simply. "I went unaffected because my bugs breakdown most kinds of gases that surround me before they can even touch my body. I was only faking unconsciousness to throw the assailants off. Now," he began, rising from the ground slowly and mechanically, "I suggest gathering weapons to arm yourselves with, lest we come across some enemies."

"Fine," Naruto responded, surprisingly mellow.

Not one to be bossed around, Temari reciprocated with, "What makes you think you can tell us what to do?"

"Shino is smart. He knows what he's talking about," Hinata observed, deactivating her kekkei genkai. Sighing in acquiescence, Temari walked to the bed, opened some drawers and tossed a few shurikan and kunai to her conscious comrades, then ran to Choji's dresser and retrieved his. "There is no one in the immediate vicinity, just some civilians," Hinata finished.

"How do you know they are civilians?" Naruto solicited, giving Hinata an inquiring look.

"U-under developed chakra coils." she whispered, almost visibly growing nervous.

"You can tell all that from just looking at them?" He questioned again, grinning _almost _foxily at her. Her face heated up, but she replied with a small smile and a yes. Naruto made a low whistling sound, gazing at Hinata intently. "I wish I was a Hyuuga." Suddenly, Hinata didn't really see the need to stay upright (or conscience for that matter), but was trying her hardest not to show it.

Attempting to draw the attention away from the almost-flailing Hinata, Temari asked the obvious question. "How is it that we aren't asleep with them?"

"I sent my bugs into the room to absorb the poison," Shino said carefully, giving Hinata time to recover. Naruto and Temari had their eyes trained on articulate boy, while the fourth member checked for holes (a good way to hide her passionately-pink face) in the wall that might have let the gas leak in "As we speak, they are fruitlessly trying to get the gas out of the others' bodies. They are smart, but that have no common sense; they insist on trying to suck the poison from the skin, though the toxins will not permeate the bottom layer, let alone the epidermis. Some are trying to go in the bodies, even though I have not allowed them to. We just have to wait until it comes out of their systems naturally."

Almost not wanting to interrupt, Hinata reported with, "There are no openings in the wall."

With a miniscule inclination of the head, Shino continued. "In the mean time, I think that we should investigate. Two stay here and guard the bodies, while I and the other person stake out the hallways. I will inform the manager of this incident then check rooms for other knock-outs," Shino finished, glancing at each of the remaining persons' faces. "If you do not object, I would like to take you with me Temari."

The girl in question nodded her approval, albeit skeptically, and with a final glance to Hinata and Naruto, she left the room. "One last thing; I think it would be pertinent to remove everyone form their mangled positions, unless you want them _and _you to be sore when they arouse." Shino left the room quietly, closing the door behind him. Naruto shuddered at the thought of Sakura nailing him in the head for something that wasn't his fault.

Virtually silent, one by one they moved all the boys into a row on the ground, adjusting their arms and legs, while the three girls were put on the bed (by Hinata's suggestion). Once everyone was in a suitable position, Naruto jumped onto the opposite bed face down and began to hum to himself. Hinata glanced at him shyly before taking a seat on one of the conviently placed chairs.

"Do you ever think about what it would be like not to be a ninja?" The face-down boy began, seemingly out of the blue. He breathed in the scent of the old, but clean, sheets. "I've had the dream of becoming Hokage so long, I almost forgot what it was like when I was young and not wanting to become a ninja. They are only faint memories, but they are still there."

"Well, I- um… once a few months ago, I thought I… wanted to give up. You showed me…that time at the training grounds…"

"I remember…" Naruto mumbled distantly as he thought back. _'I was so insecure…and then she talked to me.'_ "Well, I guess we both teach each other things, huh? You gave me confidence, and I gave you… confidence! Eh, that's funny!" he chortled. She dipped her head mutely in confirmation of the fact, then began to quietly have a speed-of-light flash back of one of their most promising meetings in the friendship department.

As she was nearing the end, Naruto spoke up again, "Was that it?"

Hinata gathered her mind back to her crush, and tried to recall what he had asked. "Well… maybe when I was younger…I'm not sure. I was usually preoccupied with training to think too much about _not_ becoming a ninja. I… s-suppose maybe if I hadn't become one, I might have helped out with the Yamanaka's Flower Shop. But F-father probably wouldn't have let me quit… not that I wanted to or do want to-"

"Hinata, you are um… _rambling_ a bit." Naruto said while picking his head up. He grinned towards his pillow as she quickly apologized. "No need to say sorry; you didn't do anything wrong."

She stared at him for a few seconds, letting the statement sink in_. '**No need to be sorry? **What does he mean?'_

Seeing her blank look, Naruto hastened to explain himself. "All I'm saying is that you didn't do anything that should be classified as wrong. If everyone in the world apologized and forgave for everything, a lot of people would be innocent. You see what I'm saying? If it ain't broke don't fix it, you know?"

"Yes," she said immediately, though she didn't fully understand him.

Naruto seemed to take no notice (god, could he be anymore _blind_?) and let his head drop to the padding, keeping his face sideways towards Hinata. He gave her a once over before coming up with the game-winner, "Jeeze Hinata, do you ever eat? You're so skinny." Awkward Silence….GO!

...

"Why do girls grow those…_things_?"

"What…_things_?"

"You know, _things_," Naruto finished mysteriously.

Surprised and embarrassed all at the same time, Hinata stuttered out, "Are y-you talking a-about-"

"Boobs, yes."

"Uh, erm, I mean, I-I don't…" She trailed off, putting her arms up to her chest in an attempt to block his non-wandering eyes. Letting her eyes roll up into her head, she fainted.

"Are you OK?!" he yelled, jumping up from his position on the bed. Hearing no response, he lifted her up gently and set her on his shoulder. Just as he was about to put her down onto the bed, the door creaked open ominously, revealing the youngest sand sibling.

Gaara looked the room over once, twice, and finally three times before focusing his tired eyes on Naruto. "What the hell," he stated before turning around. Back to, he questioned, "Where is Temari?"

"That's it? You're not even going to ask what happened?" Naruto adjusted Hinata , then reached over to pull back the grotesquely-decorated sheets. "Whatever. Temari went…_somewhere_ with Shino so they could tell the hotel people about the knockout gas. Hinata and I were to stay guard of the bodies, but then she fainted. Not sure why though…" he trailed off.

"Fine," Gaara said, leaving the room. Sand seemingly came out of nowhere and closed the door behind him.

Recovering from his brief distraction, Naruto set Hinata on the bed and covered her up with the sheets. Sighing because of the ludicrous situation, he lay on his stomach at the end of the bed, feet facing the headboard. The distraught boy absently played with a thread that had come loose from the bedding. Slowly but surely, he began to drift off, letting his head loll off the side of the bed.

Almost instantly, a small shadow came peaking from underneath the divan, taking care not to stick his body out. "Excellent."

* * *

In the lobby, Shino and Temari strolled at a brisk pace, heading purposely towards he counter. "There has been an issue in my associates room. The basic case of knockout gas has been set up, rendering my teammates unconscious. We have left two others in the room to guard the bodies. You must send someone up immediately to inspect the problem," Shino supplied mysteriously once reaching the counter.

Temari leaned onto the counter, pointing a finger into the attendants face. "This is our vacation time, and we don't need to be doing police investigations."

"Right." the attendant said dubiously. "I'll…call the police?"

"Yes. The room number is 203." With that closing statement, Shino and Temari strode from the counter, opting to check the other rooms in the hallway. Unbeknownst to them, their 'associates' were in danger.

* * *

**So, Late again. Don't I feel horrible (for this and because I have a cold). I pledge on my life that the next chapter will be out sooner than this one (unless of course I die or something). I really want to write on this, but I only feel comfortable writing when I'm home alone (don't ask why), and that is a rare occasion.**

**I've decided that there will be no pairings (as in, kissy kissy ones). There will still be close friendships, but no fluffy love moments; there's just no way it could make sense. Since this is like a random gag fic (even thought it's like, adventurous) it would make no sense to try and squeeze in different interacting moments and character development. But, the friendships will stay; NaruHina and possibly NejiTen, SasuSaku and ShikaTema. It think it'll be hard to incorporate the last three, but I will try (the first one is set in stone). I'm going to try not to clog up the story with romance, so maybe we'll see more plot, unlike the earlier chapters. Hopefully I'll be starting on the new chapter tonight.**

**On a side note, Yay for parenthesis! Also, I really like this chapter title…**


	9. Side Affects

**_Of Hotels and Roommates Chapter 9: Side Affects_**

Back up in Sakura and Choji's hotel room, Natsuri began to work at stealing the slumbering genin from their spots. He would grab one, then use a seal-less technique to make the wall's atoms separate, therefore gaining him (and his kidnapped prizes) access to the next room almost as if the wall wasn't there at all. The only evidence of the modus operandi was a small popping noise.

But as there is with all jutsu, there was a down side to this all powerful method. Bat summons generally don't have a lot of physical strength; theirs lies solely with jutsu. They can only carry so much weight. In this instance, it makes for one genin a trip. But, the more trips, the more chakra it uses. The more chakra it uses, the louder the popping noise.

Again and again Natsuri performed the mighty technique, dragging the genin through three walls, then to one last floor, which he would drop them through. He opted to take only the males from the floor, deciding against taking the women because they didn't look very powerful.

The sound became progressively louder, until it was enough to wake any normal person. But, as most know, Naruto isn't very normal, therefore his light naps are _heavy_. So heavy, in fact, that he didn't hear Natsuri drop Sasuke twice and Choji three times.

Once all the males were gone, Natsuri looked around the room in an almost satisfaction. _'I will take the Hyuga girl as well. Her bloodline is valuable,' _he plotted. He hobbled over to the bed slowly, most of his energy gone. Just as he was about to take the blankets off of Hinata, a hand gripped his wrist.

**"What are you doing?" **Naruto asked fiercely, growling. "Where is everyone? What have you done with them?!" he ripped Natsuri from the floor and held him in a chokehold with his other arm.** "Tell me."**

Natsuri smirked in response and separated into tiny particles, disappearing into the air rapidly. "Damn it!" Seeing that he couldn't do anything about the situation, Naruto bent over Hinata and opted to wake her up. "Hinata…" he shook her lightly. Nothing. "Hinata…" He mumbled, pulling the blanket off her. He took a seat at on the opposite side of the bed, shaking her again and feeling her temperature. "Normal… Hinata wake up!" he finally decided to yell. She blinked her eyes open quickly and sat up, taking in the room.

"What- Naruto!" she squeaked, then froze.

"Yes?" he said, inches from her face. She didn't respond verbally, but made a sort of gesture with her hand, then fell over; she had fainted again.

"Naruto?" A new voice mumbled. He turned to stare at Tenten who had lifted her head up from the bed. "What in the world is going on? The last thing I remember was Sakura screaming about pretzels, then just blackness. Don't tell me that something happened to the others… I knew there was something happening, I just knew it! After the lights went the two times, I had a kunai in my hand, ready for the attack. It didn't come…"

"Um… Hinata and I were supposed to be guarding the bodies-"

"What bodies?" Tenten questioned, nerves making her jumpy.

"The guys bodies, you know, Neji, Lee, Shikamaru… anyways, Shino and Temari went to tell the manager about the knock-outs, so it was just Hinata and I."

"Aa…" Tenten smirked, then began to giggle. "Go on."

Giving her a strange look, Naruto continued with his tale. "I was just talking to Hinata and she fainted! I woke her up just before you came to, but she knocked herself out again! Does she have some kind of fainting sickness? She always collapses when I'm around her…"

"Um, I don't think she has a fainting sickness, I think she just gets nervous around you and doesn't know how to handle your presence…" Tenten grinned at him, then got up form her seated position on the bed. However, the gas was still in her system, and she started to wobble. Unceremoniously, she fell onto the floor. "Ow…"

The door across the room opened, putting Naruto and Tenten on their guards. Shino and Temari stepped into the room, taking the edge off the situation. Shino took a look around the room, eyes calculating, before turning to Naruto. "What did you do?" He growled.

"Um… I… fell asleep," he said lamely. "It's not my fault!" he defended. "I need a lot of sleep, and I didn't really get it last night! I slept through, but that's not really enough for me… plus Hinata just _fainted_! How can I stay up with no one to talk to?"

Hinata stirred at the recent mention of her name. "I'm so sorry Shino! I didn't meant to faint, I just can't help it! I'm so sorry!" Hinata groggily pleaded with her teammate.

"Hinata, it is ok. The situation is not your fault; it is Naruto's. Because you became unconscious, he should have been on vigilant guard, not lax. I blame you." he said, facing Naruto. "But, what has happened has happened, there is nothing we can do. Now," he said, adjusting his infamous sunglasses, "We must assess the situation calmly. We have Temari, Tenten, Hinata, Naruto and myself who are awake. Sakura and Ino are still in the cleaning stage. Gaara is nowhere to be found. Neji, Choji, Kiba, Akamaru, Sasuke Kankuro, Lee and Shikamaru are missing."

"The gas is still in my system, hence my body is on the floor," Tenten added.

"Well, there was this bat thing-"

"I'm _sure _there was a bat." Tenten chimed in dubiously.

"Probably a summon," Temari added. "We studied about a lot of different types of them back in the days of the academy. Bats are for stealth, and commonly have the same elemental affinity as weasels."

"That sounds potentially useful…"

"As I was saying, the bat came and tried to take Hinata out of the bed. I had to protect her on account of her fainting and stuff. Just as he was about to take the blanket off, I grabbed onto him and asked what happened to the others, but he wouldn't answer. He disintegrated in my hands, and I couldn't do anything about it," Naruto finished darkly.

"Well, as I said, what has passed has passed-"

"It's still my fault for falling asleep! How would you feel if the others safety was in your hands and you let them all down!?" Naruto yelled angrily, turning his back on the others. "It always comes down to me screwing up. But, no more. I'm going to find the others and safe everyone's butts! I'm not gonna quit and I'm not going to go back on my word. That's my way of the ninja!"

"That was a very heart warming speech, Naruto," Sakura verbally-glared, "But I think you'll be dead instead of out looking for them!" Sakura attempted to jump up and attack Naruto from her position on the bed, but failed horribly and fell into the floor. "What the heck?!" She screeched testily.

Ino giggled at Sakura from her position on the bed. "Good going, forehead!" She laughed again drunkenly, then rolled over and fell off the bed onto the floor. "Ow…"

"What is the matter with you guys? You're acting sarcastic," Temari motioned to Tenten. "You're angry," She looked pointedly at Sakura, who scowled moodily. "And you're intoxicated!" Ino chuckled again, adjusting herself so she was in a good sitting stance.

"Sakura is always angry."

"Can it, Naruto! I'd beat you to a pulp right here-" She struggled to get up, but failed again. "If I could _move_!"

"We cannot do anything in our current state. If there truly are side affects from the gas, I can only imagine the influences on the others…"

"I r-remember… Once, on a mission with Kurenai Sensei…" Hinata began, getting up from the bed. "We were subjected to gases much like the one the g-girls are under. Do you recall Shino? You laughed uncontrollably, Kiba became very claustrophobic, and I…" She was unable to finish her thought, due to embarrassment.

"I remember what happened to you. You shouted-" Shino began gradually.

"Shino!" Hinata cheeped softly. "Please, don't." She looked as though she was going to cry at the thought of Shino telling the others that she had proclaimed loving Naruto. She glanced his way nervously.

"My apologies, Hinata." Although the others were curious as to what she had said, they didn't question for fear of upsetting her. Even Ino, Sakura and Tenten in their current states, figured that brain-buster out.

For the second time that day, the door creaked open ominously. Ino opted to state the thoughts rolling around in her head. "I'm beginning to think we should lock that thing. Look at all the creeps getting in. That freaking _bat-_thing, you two," she looked at Shino then Temari. The latter had the cheek to glare at the under-the-influence

(of gas) female. "And him." Gaara just barely stepped inside the room, then let out a low, throaty noise.

"There you are Temari," he stated. She shivered slightly, still a bit nervous around her brother, despite his _almost_ 180 degree spin in personality.

"What do you want, Gaara? The others are gone, and we're trying to formulate a plan to get them back."

"I... wanted to... help," he choked out uncertainly. His eyes took on a downcast look, facing the floor, while hers took on a glint. A look of astonishment crossed his sister's face, before she ran over to him, arms out, ready to hug him. He stood stock still, still not used to this 'hugging' thing. She wrapped her arms around him, then let go quickly.

"Of courseyou can help!" she practically shrieked in is face. Looking a tiny bit affronted at the volume and enthusiasm of her voice, Gaara just nodded. Naruto smiled a tiny, half smile before looking over to Hinata. "Are _you _up for moving?" he raised an eyebrow at her.

"Don't you _dare _question her ability to move! It's us three that are having trouble!"

Sakura yelled, flailing about on the ground.

"Don't you mean date, not dare? I mean, you can totally see that these two belong together. You'd have to be blind not to! Hahaha!" Despite her first statement not making sense, Ino's last struck the people in the room in different ways. Tenten demanded a high five from her drunken friend, while Temari, Shino and Gaara stood still, customarily not phased by the declaration. Hinata and Naruto had the innocence to look embarrassed, being that both of their faces were beat red.

It impacted Sakura the most, almost dragging her out of her gas-induced rage. Momentarily lost in the truth of it, she began to rant about their relationship. "I knew it!" she yelled happily. "I knew that they liked each other. Like, Naruto would say something, then Hinata would get all blush-y and stuff. Then he'd vow to protect her! It's _so _obvious," she said, almost one hundred percent sure that she was right.

Tenten to the rescue. "Can we change the subject? All this sappiness is making me nauseous." she proclaimed. _Again_, the stress was to much for Hinata, and she fainted. Shino looked her over for a second, before announcing his plan.

"Right. Temari and myself have already checked all the rooms on this side of the hotel, and I doubt the kidnappers would be dumb enough to leave them unattended in _any _part of the hotel, for that matter. I think it would be best that we check outside for the others. In your current conditions, Sakura, Ino and Tenten, you cannot walk anywhere, but we are unable to leave you behind for fear of losing you as well. I think we might have a useful purpose for Gaara's sand. Do you object to us using it to help support the girls?" Gaara shook his head no, then began to summon some sand from his gourd. A small amount came out and began to wrap itself around the conscious (excluding Temari) girls waists. The Ino giggled a bit while she was being stood up.

"You can carry Hinata," Shino faced Naruto expectantly. "Since it is your fault she fainted, and it is also your fault that everyone is gone." Naruto had a fierce look on his face, but he didn't object. He picked Hinata up piggy-back style, then grinned. "Now that that is settled, let's go."

**-**

**A/N: I'm liking this chapter better than the last couple... I got it out earlier than the other one, but I still missed the deadline by a week. I'm going to try to make everyone less OOC, but it's hard. Review Please.**


	10. Three Fourths Underground

**_Of Hotels and Roommates Chapter 10: Three-Fourths Underground_**

Arigaku had ditched her outrageous shawl, autumn-print dress and heels for something more practical. Cargo shorts, buckle-up sandals and a short-sleeve T-shirt were what donned her body now. He hair was back into a simple ponytail and she had a small fanny sack attached to her side.

Slowly, she crept along the passage. Her hands glided across the wet stone walls, helping to guide her along. Small pools of water remained gathered on the channel floor, while beads of it rolled down the walls. The moisture in the air was so thick it landed on her body and dripped down at an immensely fast pace.

Reaching a seemingly random point on the walk, Arigaku stopped. She tapped the floor with her foot twice, then slapped her palm against the wall. The rocks beside her opened to reveal an adult human-sized hole. She dashed into the opening, leaving the doors to close promptly.

* * *

Kiba opened his eyes as best as he could. It was incredibly dark. He faced iron bars, and beyond that was the empty space. Strangely, he began to feel very _claustrophobic_.

The ground was slightly bumpy, and moist as well. Kiba's legs felt like jelly, and he tried to move his sleeping arms, but to no prevalence.

Kiba lifted his head and turned it to the right. Neji sat awake against the single rock wall (the rest being caged), perpendicular to Kiba, while Sasuke was opposite Neji and far away from Kiba, curled in a ball in the corner. As soon as Sasuke saw Kiba stir, the Uchiha ran over almost _worried_ly and grabbed onto the dog-charmer. "Are you ok?! Did anyone hurt you?"

"Don't touch me, man!"

"I was just seeing if you were ok…"

"That doesn't mean you need to touch me."

"Would you two kindly shut up? I've been trying for twenty minutes to break open these bars, but it appears that they are enforced with some type of special chakra. The rocks as well. This is making me so angry that I can't do anything! I just feel like punching something!" Neji put it, sounding slightly _impatient_, and causing Sasuke to let go of Kiba and run to the Hyuga.

"Don't do that, Neji! You might hurt yourself…"

"Whatever, Sasuke. The others are still asleep and it looks like they might be coming to soon. Why don't you go help them?" Neji suggested. Sasuke nodded vigorously before stepping beside Lee and Kiba. Neji fallowed behind Sasuke and speculated Lee carefully.

"No need to inspect me Sasuke. I have been awake before Neji, and have been assessing the situation," Lee announced, rolling onto his back from his stomach. Sasuke backed off from Lee, who was about to present a very _analytical _side of himself that the others had rarely heard.

"The way I look at it, either the others have found out about our currents states and are searching for us at this very moment, or they have been abducted as we have. I am curious as to why Sakura, Ino and Tenten are not with as. I am also taking a guess that Shino is not present because of his bugs' gas absorbency and breaking down techniques. I was informed of this superior skill weeks ago when I started a conversation with Shino himself," Lee finished, sounding every bit like Shikamaru, or in some cases, Shino. He then stared blankly at the ceiling, trying to think the situation over more and find any other possibilities for escape.

"Wow. That was deep, but it was really heard to take seriously while looking at your face." Choji said _childishly_, rolling over to face the rest of the group from his position on the other side of the entrapment.

"Why would you say that Choji? Lee never did anything to you," Sasuke said meekly. Choji stuck his tongue out and began to blow raspberries at the rest of them. Neji rolled his eyes, while Kiba said nothing.

Lee gave a disgusted look before continuing on with something else. "It has also come to my attention that we are all acting strangely out of character. Examples: Choji being childish and sticking his tongue out at us, and Sasuke's overly worried state of being. I have also noticed the Neji is rather impatient, and I have yet to figure anything out about Kiba, besides the fact that he does not wish to be touched by anyone."

"I don't know why I feel like this. It just came on all of a sudden. Being in this small cell is making me sick," Kiba provided, his expression portraying antipathy.

"Aa. You are showing symptoms of claustrophobia. In other words, you feel sick or nervous in small spaces," Lee observed. "Being close to people in those spaces is almost doubly-worse, and I am surprised that you have not started to vomit from the tension."

"I do feel like I'm going to throw up…"

"Well go over there! We don't want it on us!" Choji yelled, making a sour face. Sasuke gave a fleeting glance at Choji before moving over to the other side of the cage with Kiba, just to make sure he would be ok.

"Can you guys like, take a chill pill? Everything is fine! Totally…fine…" Kankuro had finally woken up, and was currently flopping about on the ground.

"Everything is not fine! We are trapped in here and we haven't found a way out!" Choji screeched, flailing his arms about in the air.

"Dude… trust me. I know it looks bad…. but sis'll come through…" Kiba finished confidently and _illogically_, laying one of his legs over the other and putting his hands behind his head. He continued to lie on the ground while a pregnant silence engulfed the room.

The silence was broken by a yell. "Where's Akamaru!?"

* * *

Yagami lifted his hand to his drinking glass, preparing to take a sip, when he heard a muffled yell. Growling, he got up from his chair. "Must be the prisoners…" he mumbled, then stepped down from his rock pedestal to the ground floor. He rubbed his arms to try and warm them up, before walking around a corner and disappearing into the shadows.

* * *

"This sand is very creepy. That man up there is creepy, you know that? I can't believe this shit! Holy shit! The sand tickles. Are we there yet?"

"Ino, can you shut up?! God! It's always creepy this, creepy that. Close your mouth for once in your life…"

"Oh, I'm _sure_ it always creepy this and creepy that. Yeah. _Right_."

"Ok. Guys, can you please quiet down? I'm glad Hinata didn't get hit by the gas too. I'd have died already…"

"Too many people talking at once is confusing, useless and distracting," Gaara commented. Shino and Naruto said nothing. The others were being too loud to hear the comment at all. Temari sighed.

* * *

__

After stepping out into the hallway, all the ninja formed a line. Gaara took the lead, arms crossed lazily and face blank. Shino came next, face as blank as Gaara's. Naruto was third; Hinata on his back. He had a subdued expression on his face and his posture suggested that he was slightly upset.

Behind those four were Sakura who was very irritated, Ino who was giggling constantly, and Tenten who was almost as irritated as Sakura. They were walking along as fast as they could with their weak legs, and the sand did the rest. The substance moved around them rapidly, keeping them from falling or stumbling. If one appeared to be falling, Temari would call from behind them to Gaara, who'd summon more sand.

* * *

Finally the troop had almost reached the lobby, but it was then that Shino saw a fatal flaw to their plan. He stopped in mid stride beside a soda and ice machine combo. The others crashed into him from behind, Naruto and Temari muttering obscenities, and Sakura, Ino and Tenten voicing them. Gaara, sensing that the others had halted, turned around expectantly. Hinata began to hear stifled voices…

"We cannot take these three in there like that. We are sure to be questioned, and that might delay or put off our plans indefinitely. Not to mention others that might have seen us. Gaara's gourd is not very inconspicuous, nor is Temari's fan." Shino stepped closer to the soda machine, which was almost directly next to an unmarked door. The others fallowed. From the end of the hallway it appeared as if no one was there, but the shinobi were actually in the small cubby, made for the purpose of putting the machines, and giving people a place to stand so as not to block the hallway when getting ice and/or drinks.

"Well, I can use a scroll to hide them, but I'm not very good at the technique. I guess I could attempt it…" Temari tried. Shino nodded to her and she took her fan off of her back, setting it against the wall. Gaara reluctantly gave his gourd to his sister, who held it for a few seconds before sighing. "Where can I do this? I don't see any available places, and I'd only delay us further if I had to walk all the way back to the rooms."

Hinata's eyes fluttered as Gaara answered with, "Open that door and check for people, and if no one is there use it." Temari looked almost apprehensive, but opened it anyway. Seeing nothing, she grabbed her fan and headed inside. Shino shut the door behind her. A zipping sound could be heard, signaling that Temari had opened her pouch and pulled the scroll out.

"What do we do about the other situation?" Gaara began the conversation, trying to feign interest.

"Well, you lazies could carry the girls. I'm the only one doing lifting." Naruto felt a little jolt, then Hinata was off his back.

"I'm sorry I'm such a burden!" She attempted to pardon herself, but only ended up making Naruto feel bad. "I wasn't sure if I was able to walk, and I still feel a bit groggy, but I'm fine now!"

"Nice job Naruto!" Sakura screeched, grasping at the air wildly, trying to free herself from the sand. Ino laughed and started to twirl her head around in a circle.

"Agreed," Tenten added.

"I didn't mean to-"

"Well you did!"

"Sakura… I was just saying-"

"I know what you were saying!"

"No…"

"Insulting her like that! And you didn't even say you were sorry!" There was a silence for a few seconds. Hinata wanted so badly to defend Naruto: to tell Sakura to mind her own business, or even to just be quiet, but she couldn't. Naruto's next statement took her breath away.

Hearing a disturbance, person working at the front desk came running down the hall, hoping to find the source of the noise and prevent a violent situation. Gaara withdrew his sand, and Sakura, Tenten and Ino fell to the ground.

"You know why I couldn't apologize? Because you wouldn't shut the fuck up, Sakura. I'm sick of being ridiculed like this! I used to like you, but now… It's easy to see why I don't! It's also easy to see why the gas affected you the way it did: it's bringing out your inner personality!" Naruto sucked in his breath, fists at his sides. His finger nails had grown partially, and his teeth had as well. He was slightly hunched over, and the three scars that were present on each side of his face were seemingly growing.

Shino's eyebrows were raised slightly above his glasses when Naruto began again. "Sakura," he started. Gaara uncrossed his arms. "You are-" Ino and Tenten laughed cruelly towards Sakura. "A huge,-" Temari opened the door to see what all the commotion was about. "Mean,-" Hinata felt like she was going to faint again. "Bitch!" Naruto stalked off angrily.

The manager face faulted, but regained his self-possession. He knew not to interfere with peoples personal lives, so he did the only thing he could. "Miss, what are you doing in the closet? That is for authorized personnel only!"

"Oh…" Temari quickly shoved the scroll down the back of her shirt, stepped forward, and closed the closet door. "Sorry."

"Very well. I will be getting back to work now. No loitering in the hallways, please." He turned on his heal and glided back to his desk.

Through the whole turmoil, from the point where Naruto had started to fight back, Sakura had worn the expression of a fish gasping for air. Her mouth opened up and then closed, while her eyes were directed straight forward, and her arms hung uselessly by her side.

Hinata felt obligated to consol Sakura, but she was (cruelly, wrongfully, sinfully) enjoying the distraught girl's appearance and mental state. Never before in her life had she taken pleasure out of someone else's pain, but she guessed that even she deserved the chance, right?

Before Hinata could form a smile of mirth, Shino was on top of the situation. "Hinata, why don't you go look for Naruto. He seems to take a liking to you."

Hinata stopped her hand that had come up to prevent her almost-smile form being seen, and looked at Shino. "W-what?"

"…"

"O-ok…"Hinata left.

As she walked away, Shino started with up again with, "Temari, would you be so kind as to carry Sakura on your back? I think you are the only one that can handle her," he whispered. Reluctantly, Temari nodded yes.

"Gaara, would you take-"

"I will take the blonde one."

"…Ok. And I will take Tenten. Temari, do you have the sealing scroll?"

"Yes." Temari pulled it out from her shirt and stuck it in her weapons pouch, closing it.

Each of the three fully-operational ninja grabbed their luggage, and walked into the lobby. The site of Gaara voluntarily letting a drunk person cling onto him was the highlight of Temari's day.

-

****

HAHAHA no. I don't like the last section. An update, at least. Probably many mistakes. Reviews are appreciated. Title explanation: Arigaku; 1/4. Yagami; 1/4. the boys; 1/4. The rest are above ground, hence three-fourths underground. Clever.


	11. Oh Where Has my Little Dog Gone?

**Of Hotels and Roommates Chapter 11: Oh Where, Oh Where Has my Little Dog Gone?**

Akamaru sniffed his way through the small, dark passage way. A faint scent of burning wood guided him onward until he began to see an opening of light at the end of his vision. He ran towards it at full speed, his feet touching the ground just long enough for him to get leverage for the next step. The rock beneath him was smooth and wet, and he almost slipped.

When he finally reached the exit of the cavern, the dog was so excited that he looked before he leaped, and ended up jumping straight into a steaming deluge of water. The push of immense moisture took him underwater. He madly paddled his paws, searching for the surface.

Akamaru came up sputtering and hacking just as madly as he had paddled. Miserably, he began to swim blindly through the mist towards the side of the enclosure, hoping to find land of some sort. His pads touched onto something soon enough and the dog pulled himself onto the wooden poolside. He was thankful that no one else had been there to witness the shameful incident.

Looking around, Akamaru realized that he was in the hot spring. He also realized that the passage he had come out of was located just below the hole that supplied the spring with hot water. The young Inuzuka gathered his bearings and trotted through the steam, shaking the blanket of water off himself and coughing a few times.

It was times like this that Akamaru wished that he were taller as he came upon the walkway that led to the changing rooms. On either side of the boardwalk were hardwood pillars that reached at least eight or nine feet into the sky, there for the purpose of privacy.

Whether this bath house was for the females or the males, Akamaru did not know, nor did he care. He just wanted out. The dog ran as fast as he could down that walkway, through the changing room and out into the sunlight.

Meanwhile, Hinata pushed open the double doors, exposing herself to the air outside. She scanned around for Naruto with her bare eyes, at the same time face red and mind embarrassed by Shino's earlier comment.

The search was too trivial (not to say that Naruto was unimportant of course; just that her family would find it dishonorable for her to use it for such a small need.) to use her Byakugan for, so she manually walked across the front lawn and looked to the woods that were perpendicular to the hotel. Still no sign. Turning towards the shrubs out back, Hinata spotted Naruto

Naruto sat at a small pond, his bottom precariously close to the edge. His head was held down and his feet almost touched the surface of the water. Hinata snuck up behind him quietly, hoping that she could think of something to say in the time it took for him to notice that she was there.

Hinata was not ten feet from him when he grounded out, "Who is it?"

"Well, um… It's me, Hinata. I'm sorry to bother you, but Shino and I were concerned about where you had gone to, so I…came to look for you. I hope I d-didn't disturb you at all…"

"Oh…ok. Sorry for sounding so cross earlier. I'm just kind of in a bad mood."

Hinata tiptoed over to him and stood standoffishly, closing her fists around the fluffiest part of her jacket bottom. "I didn't think that you were being cross at all, Naruto!" she squeaked. Hinata glanced down at her hands nervously.

"Not cross? I screamed at Sakura! I feel horrible now," submitted Naruto. He folded his hands together and brought his feet up from their careless position, leaning back onto the grass. His eyes met Hinata's when he said, "I don't have the plague you know."

She bashfully sat down a couple feet away from him. "Naruto, w-what you did was out of character, but I don't think it was… unprovoked. Sometimes people just need to let their frustrations out." Hinata consoled him, her opinions self conscious. Feeling that if she said the wrong thing he'd dismiss her like so many others had, she was almost put off.

"I guess that's true… Sometimes I just don't know what to say when it comes to her. She's nice one second; mean the next. I never know which I'm going to get, you know?"

"I… can't say that I've been on the injured end of S-Sakura's rage, but I know what it's like to be picked on, in a way."

"Yeah. Me just changing Neji isn't changing your whole clan. I guess we'll just have to keep working on it together." The Uzumaki smiled heartily and stood up, swiping the grass of his backside. He offered a hand to Hinata, and the Hyuga grabbed onto it. Pulling her up, he lost his balance, clumsily falling into her. Luckily she was on top of the situation and saved them both from tumbling to a heap on the ground. She blushed when his hair rubbed her cheek, and she blushed harder when his face started to get red as well.

"Uhm, sorry! I didn't mean to, I swear!"

"It's o-ok!" Hinata looked up and realized how close Naruto was to her; little more than a foot and a half separated them. She gasped and wobbled. _'So close!' _she thought. _'What do I do? I don't want to…to…'_

Naruto stood still, not knowing what to do, and also not believing his situation. _'Why can't I move? What do I do? If this was Sakura she'd kill me! But it's Hinata... maybe she wants something? Oh no! What does she want? Think Naruto! What do girls want?'_

Hinata closed her eyes, ready to pass out. She wanted to back away and just pretend this never happened, but just as her friend, she could not move.

Naruto saw her eyes close, but what he did not see was the shadow that stretched from behind a bush, by rocks and over grass, to two sets of feet. The shadow held the feet captive, rendering the victims captive.

Behind the bush, Shikamaru looked excited. "This is gonna be good!" he whispered. Shikamaru leaned his upper body in a little more, and Hinata and Naruto mimicked him unknowingly.

'_What? Why am I moving?'_ both Naruto and Hinata thought. They each tried tilting themselves backwards, but to no avail. Each second their faces were getting closer and closer. It would have gone quicker if not for the fact that Shikamaru was enjoying the show, and decided to prolong it for as long as he could.

From a distance, Akamaru could see two figures standing close together and one hiding behind some form of shrubbery next to the hotel. Thinking the two people were about to be ambushed, he ran towards the hiding one at full speed, quiet as a mouse.

Just as their noses were about to touch, Akamaru barked and made a leaping tackle into Shikamaru, who was knocked over and began to laugh hysterically. The jutsu released, Naruto and Hinata fell away from each other onto their butts and into the grass.

'_Oh no.'_ Hinata passed out, for the third time that day.

"Shikamaru! What the hell was that?" His face still covered in embarrassed rouge, Naruto fought his already flared temper.

Shikamaru laughed like a hyena, rolling around on the ground. "You should have seen your faces, man! Hil-ar-ious! Haha!" Akamaru barked in heavy disagreement. Indignant, the dog cocked its leg up as if he was going to pee on the flailing boy.

"Oi! Don't piss on me!" the young Nara yelled angrily. Akamaru 'hmphed' then trotted over to Hinata, who lay sprawled out on the ground. He licked her face a few times and bit at her jacket. She began to arouse uncertainly.

"…N…Naruto? What?" Hinata opened her eyes to see him staring hard at Shikamaru, who was sitting casually on the ground, smiling. She quickly pet Akamaru on the head, and then just as she was about to question what had happed, Shino and the rest of the troop emerged from the other side of the hotel, drugged ninja in tow.

As soon as they noticed Shikamaru, the three piggy-backees began their bombardment of questions.

"Where have _you_ been!?"

"Did you get hit by the gas?"

"Haha! I bet you're all messed up, just like us!"

Ignoring the nuisances that were Sakura, Tenten, and Ino, Temari began to speak. "Damn…We were on our way out the door when the front desk clerk stopped us. She was concerned of the girls that we carried, so we had to tell her that they were intoxicated and that they couldn't walk on their own. That led to the question of underage drinking, so we had to make up another lie that it was an overdose of cough medicine. Luckily she bought it. So what happened here?"

"Oh nothing! Haha!" Naruto chuckled, one hand behind his head while the other waved off their question. Hinata didn't say anything, so it looked like he was in the safe zone for now. No one furthered the investigation until Shino spoke up.

"Why are you on the ground, Hinata?" The Aburame had not broken his gaze from her since he had arrived out back.

"Um…Well I don't really know…" She closed her eyes in thought and began to recall what had occurred. _'Eek!'_ she remembered, _'I can't say what actually happened!'_

"Now that you are here, Naruto Uzumaki, you may take this…thing." Gaara dumped Ino onto the ground with a thud, effectively changing the subject.

"Ow…my butt hurts." When Naruto picked her up again, Ino tee-hee'd a little, but not to the extent that she had been laughing earlier.

Shino noticed the giggling had gone down to a minimum and that Sakura's anger and Tenten's sarcasm were wearing off too. That was a good sign, and hopefully they would be able to walk soon. "Hm…"

"Where did you come from Shikamaru? And you, Akamaru?" Naruto took the wheel, changing the topic for the second time.

"Oh that's easy," Shikamaru said, "I'll show you!" He got up off the ground and began to walk toward the hot springs.

"How is it that he is walking but they are not?" Gaara gestured to the sluggish girls. Shikamaru stopped his happy skip and turned around expectantly.

"That is what I would like to know. Shikamaru, could you tell us how you got out here?"

"Suuuure thing, Shino my man! So I was just chillin' and stuff in the room when this purple gas started coming out of nowhere, and like, everyone just fell over. I fell too of course, and when I woke up I was being carried by this little dude. I fell out of his arms and was like, 'WOAH!', so then I got up and tried to fight him, but he didn't want no part of it; just ran off that little bugger did. And I didn't feel like chasin' him, so I started to walk."

"Is that the end?" Temari asked, expecting anything to come out of his mouth at this point.

"No, I got more; I was just pausing for dramatic affect."

"Get on with it!" Sakura yelled, only half as enthusiastic as she had been earlier.

"So like I was saying earlier, I was walking on the wet rock when I thought I heard something, so I ran to the side until I hit a wall. It kind of hurt, but pain is no stranger to a pro ninja like me, so I just sat down against the wall and waited until the noise was gone.

"When I got back up, I noticed a small up and down beam of light, so I bopped on over to it and stuffed my fingers into the crack. I pulled on the rock and it moved on over just enough that I could squeeze my phat-self through."

"If I hear him use anymore of these stupid sayings I'll kill him, I swear." Temari considered out loud.

"Finally, I came out onto the grass and toddled to the right, around the hot springs, where I saw those two scoobies talking. I got this brilliant plan that I would mess with them, so I went through the forest and on the grass until I was able to hide behind the bush over there." Shikamaru pointed at a set of shrubs that bordered the back of the somewhat cheesy establishment. He grinned evilly. "And they know what happened next. Haha!"

Hinata put her face in her hands. "Can it, you drunk." Naruto grumbled.

Brushing aside Shikamaru's last sentence, Shino reached his verdict. "We will have to wait for Kiba to translate where Akamaru came from, so for now let's fallow Shikamaru and see where it takes us. Any objections?" When no one said anything, Shikamaru took off leeward, headed for the hot springs.

The whole way over, Shino painstakingly thought over the difference between Shikamaru and the three girls. The most obvious thing would be their sex, but what did that have to do with it? What he had figured out was that Ino's, Tenten's, and Sakura's personality defunctions were fading, but it didn't appear as if Shikamaru had gotten any closer to normal: but then again, Shino didn't hear Shikamaru when he was first affected, so he was not currently able to make any accurate desicions.

The second thing he discovered was that Shikamaru was able to walk, but the girls were practically immobile. It might have something to do with the production of hormones, he thought. Maybe something to do with testosterone and estragen?

And the third thing he thought about, though not really related to the females at all, was that if the others were captive, how had it been Shikamaru that had woken up and escaped? What made him different from the rest?

While Shino chewed on the information, Tenten, Ino, and Sakura shot theories back and forth about what had happened between Naruto and Hinata. Embarrassed, Hinata moved herself as far to the head of the gaggle as she could without stomping on Shikamaru's heels. Naruto guffawed and grouched, threatening to dump Ino where he stood.

Thankfully, the trio quit the small talk as Shikamaru approached the side of the stone. The hole was still there, and Shikamaru moved the rock over with the help of Gaara, making the entrance wide enough for them all to fit though comfortably.

"So," Shikamaru said in a laid-back manner, "Who goes first?"

-

Ever get a virus on your computer, and then have to restart it? And then everything you've written is gone? Then you have to re-write what was lost, and you totally forget where you were going with the story/chapter/ect.? Also, ever get writers block? Not fun. EDIT: fixed the mistakes I saw.


	12. Black Out Break Out

**Of Hotels and Roommates Chapter 12: Black Out; Break Out**

Shikamaru's question of who should go first solicited several different opinions.

"Well, I think it should be Naruto."

"Naruto."

"Yeah, pick him."

"Uzumaki."

Well, maybe not several _different_ opinions, but several opinions, all the same.

"I have no problem with going first! I'll show you all how brave I am!" The boy trudged into the cave, marching with his arms pumping and his legs taking gracious steps. Hinata smiled. Naruto certainly had his spark back.

The rest of the gang filed through the entrance in no specific order. When all were inside, Gaara, who was at the back of the line, began to drop sand behind him every twenty feet or so, marking the way. Elementary, yes, but he wanted a sure-fire way to remember the path out. The others paid his contributions little attention and continued on their way.

-

Deep inside a cave, the lost genin sat testily inside their cage.

"Are you all serious? Not one of you can think of a way out of here? Well then, I guess you're all pretty useless!" Choji crossed his arms and pouted. Everyone looked up and glared at him, save Lee who continued to stare at the ceiling.

"You want to run that by me again, Choji?" Neji said, eyes dark and body tense. He cracked his knuckles and looked over to the Akimichi menacingly.

The rotund boy pretended not to hear him and opened again with, "Not to mention Kiba's stupid dog that ran away without helping any of us out!"

Kiba stood up violently, and made to go over to the antagonizer, but Sasuke grabbed his wrist, holding the fuming boy back. "I'll kill you!"

Sasuke looked as if he was about to cry when Choji said, "Why don't you just come over here and prove it, you homophobe!"

"I'm claustrophobic, jackass! Get it right!"

"Please! Everyone just stop f-fighting!" Sasuke began to sob heavily, curling up in a ball and wailing like a child.

Kankuro groaned and went over to the sobbing kid, patting his back with a, "There, there. Everything will be fine, Uchiha. You just got to look on the bright side of things."

"What bright side? We're trapped down here in an effing _cage_ for Christ's sake!" Neji roared.

"We wouldn't be if you weren't all so useless…"

"One more time, fatty, and I'll kick your ass-"

"Quiet!" Lee thundered, pounding his fist on the ground. "You are all acting like a bunch of immature toddlers!" There was silence for a moment, and then foots steps could be heard approaching.

"He's right you know," a voice resounded from the darkness. "All of you arguing together just like," the speech stopped, and all believed that the tone and pitch of the voice clearly identified the person as a male. "Babies…" Sasuke looked up from his hunched position and Neji straightened his back.

"Who are you?" Lee interrogated.

"Who am I? I don't think you need to know that. But, I will be concise and straight to the point with why you are here." He paused and coughed, but didn't continue.

"And you are here because…?" Choji questioned smartly.

"You'll do your best to watch how you talk to me, boy." The small light that was hung in one of the corners of the cage wasn't quite bright enough to reach his face, so the man stepped forward in the faint beam.

_However plain his looks, he inherited them from his father. His light skin was rough and calloused, and his scraggly short brown hair was anything but a picture of beauty. _

_His father had taught him almost all he knew, until he had gotten so strong he ran away on his own, fixing to become a rouge ninja. But, the boy hadn't been ready and had been forced to find some place else to live and hone his skills. No, never would he return home and face the shame that he knew his family would dish out._

_The man had risen from genin to jonin, all in about three years. He felt on top of his game when he set himself up for his first mission, and wasn't disappointed by the outcome. Missions later, the young man decided to make his own objective and see how far he could go._

_Who is this man you may ask? The fair skinned, mousy haired man? This dastardly villain that has kidnapped our favorite ninja? Why, none other than Yagami Tespuci, of course._

Kiba lightly gasped. "It's you!" he yelled, pointing dramatically at Yagami.

"So it is," he answered coolly. "Very…observant. Maybe I shouldn't have underestimated you all." His tone demonstrated clear sarcasm and the boys were not impressed. "None of you are of any great importance, so why worry? You are all just bait." Yagami snickered sinisterly. "Just go back to your petty fighting and maybe I'll let you out, just as long as I get what I want."

In his mind, Yagami was a little peeved that Luna had not done anything to quiet the noisy children. He had told her to watch from the shadows, but then again, he had also told her only to make herself known if security was breeched.

"Bait?" Lee asked, glaring up at him. The evil man ignored the question and began to walk off into the darkness. "What do you want?!" Lee yelled again, not expecting an answer.

The spandex covered boy's expectations were met with ease, and the rest of the group settled into an uncomfortable silence. The sounds of Yagami's foot steps faded to echoes that bounced off the walls.

Lee waited until he was sure that their antogonizer was gone, and then he sprang into verbal action. "I have a hunch," he stated. All eyes directed their attention to the temporary-genius. "Keep in mind it is only a start, but I think we might be able to make something out of it."

"So what is it? All of you people with your unneeded pauses," Choji admonished. Lee cleared his throat and pretended not to be irritated with the large boy.

"Take a look at the cage bars. What do you notice?"

"They are all made out of a very strong metal… but what does that have to do with anything?" Neji demanded.

"I guess the gas has clouded _your_ judgment, but thankfully not _mine_," Lee glanced at Neji smartly. "It is not metal, but an opaque glass that is obviously re-enforced with chakra and coated with some kind of protective seal and coloring. I saw you attacking it, but all I observed was brute force and no thought process." Neji glared at Lee, as if trying to vaporize him.

"The seal can't be very far from the bars, so all we need to do is find it, deactivate it, and then breaking down the bars will be easy," Lee continued in a hushed tone.

Sasuke had calmed himself down at this point and observed with a smile, "That's a good idea, Lee." Kankuro grinned; Choji had the integrity to smirk; and Neji kept a straight face: his way of saying he was grateful for some sort of strategy. Kiba still frowned, but only because he still didn't know where Akamaru was.

"Your thanks are appreciated. Now, if you would all help in finding the seal. I think… Neji would be most useful right now. See if you can try to spot it with Byakugan," Lee suggested.

Neji used no seals for his kekkai genkai, going straight to work as soon as it turned itself on. "I can't believe I'm taking orders from _Lee_…" he murmured. Luna adjusted herself, nervous that he might be able to see through her family's secret ability. Neji's eyes went once over where Luna was hidden, but didn't return again. She was safe.

"There." Neji pointed distantly across the dark space. "It's on top of the rock, but placed at an odd angle."

"What do you mean odd?"

"There is another rock that formed on the ceiling that is in front of it… understand me?

"Yes, okay. I doubt there is anyway we could hit it with a _direct_ physical attack, but we might be able to do something else. Well, unless we destroy the rock in the way, but I don't want to risk collapsing the ceiling…About how far away is the seal from us?"

"Twenty meters."

"Just as I had calculated. Look through the walls now, and tell us what you see."

"We obviously can see the huge bulge that sticks out," Choji complained pointlessly. He walked over and stuck his hand through the cage bars, slapping the side of a huge boulder that protruded from the wall just outside the cage.

Neji did a full scan of the place. "Across, to the left, to the right, and directly next to us are four big bulges that protrude from the walls." He focused on the protrusion next to them contently. "Behind this one is a huge encasing of plant roots and dirt, I believe." He refocused his eyes on the other three, revealing that one held mud, and that the other two held water.

"But… there's a part of the wall I can't see through across from us. There is some sort of barrier in front of it." Disgruntled, he dropped his eyes to the floor. He blinked with interest, and looked as closely as he could at it.

"Barrier?" Lee asked, pondering the reasons why there would be a barrier. "It must be where Yagami is. If you would try to look through…" Lee stopped talking when he realized Neji wasn't listening anymore. "What are you looking at?"

Neji ignored him and gazed intently at the floor, Byakugan observing. "There is magma below us… and _I_ discovered it," he finished hotly. Choji made a noise, indicating that he was clearly disinterested.

"That must be why it is so hot in here…" Kankuro noticed quietly.

"And what is above us?

Neji lazily looked upwards. He focused closely, trying to get details. "A huge pool of water, with people scattered about inside it." Lee idly tapped his foot onto the rock floor. Kiba and Sasuke restlessly shifted back and forth while Choji prodded at Kankuro who was trying to rest on the solid, warm floor.

"We are under the hot spring," Kankuro announced irritably, slapping Choji's pudgy hand away. The large boy retracted his hand, cradling it in his grasp and sticking out his tongue.

"The hot spring? That means that we aren't that far away from the hotel. Maybe we can get back to the others!" Sasuke exclaimed gleefully.

"Akamaru, too!"

"Yes, Kiba, we know about your dog fetish. Shut up about it already."

"Fat-boy!" Kiba shook his fist menacingly, challenging Choji. This time Kankuro held Choji away from Kiba while the aforementioned Inuzuka fumed in the corner of the cell.

"Don't fight!" Sasuke cried, wringing his hands in front of himself, much like Hinata would have done in that situation. He was torn between comforting Kiba, or assuring Choji that he wasn't fat. He settled for glancing at Lee pleadingly.

Lee answered Sasuke's look with a grumpy expression. "We need to figure out a way to deactivate the seal. Does anyone have any ideas?"

Kiba glanced over his shoulder. "We could try to hit the string with a kunai, except we don't have any with us…"

"I have some," Choji cackled, "But I'll only give them if Kiba apologizes." He grinned in an obnoxious way.

"Yeah, fine, I'm sorry."

Choji reached between his shirt and thick undershirt, pulling out three kunai knives that had been hidden beneath his excess fat rolls. "It pays to be fluffy."

Lee took the weapons from Choji. "Is anyone here proficient enough to throw a kunai, and hit it with another, aiming them just so that the second one goes to the required spot?"

Neji growled. He was able to deflected kunai, but had never practiced aiming them after they hit each other before, and he doubted that Kankuro, a puppet master, or Choji, a weakling, could do it either. Neji damn well knew that Lee hardly ever used weapons, so it rested upon…

"Sasuke," Lee held up the kunai. "Gai-sensei told me that you are trained in this art, no? Kakashi even observed that you can do it with your eyes closed."

All eyes were on the Uchiha as he uttered the one word; the word that would make or break their situation.

"…Yes."

Lee grinned. Sasuke took the weapons, fingering the holes at their ends and feeling the smooth bandages that happened to be found around these particular kunai. He gave one back to Choji, who held it in his grubby hand.

"If you miss we all are stuck, loser." Choji glared at Sasuke, who flinched at the gesture.

"Shut up, Choji."

"Freaking homophobe!"

"Aren't we all really homophobic?"

"As per usual, none of you make any sense."

"If I have to say be quiet again, I will perform Leaf Hurricane and take all of you out in one shot." Lee gave them a hard stare for affect, but softened his eyes once he got to Sasuke. "You can do it."

Practically glued to the rock, Luna let the genin go, knowing there was no possible way that little brat could hit it.

Neji turned on Byakugan and hummed to himself. "I'll tell you when the first kunai is approaching the seal, and then you better hit it with the other one, or we'll be stuck here for a long time."

Time seemed to slow down as Sasuke positioned himself, aiming the first kunai through the bars. He gave a deep breath, and threw the knife at half speed through the gap. He grabbed the other one and tried to steady it in his shaking hand.

Even Neji's voice seemed considerably slow. "Ten meters…" Sasuke shook. "Five meters…" His arm went limp. "Throw it, you fool!" But it was too late. The flying kunai hit the parallel igneous rock wall with a dull clank.

Choji and Neji roared up in anger. "What are you doing?!" They both screeched at Sasuke, who trembled with every syllable.

"You're supposed to throw the second one after the first, you know," Kankuro said, wiping his hand across his faced in an exasperated manner. Kiba frown at the ground, crossing his arms.

Even Lee was a little bit annoyed. "Try one more time, Sasuke. You need to sync this one, got it?" Choji tossed the last kunai disdainfully towards the nervous boy.

Sasuke caught this kunai as swiftly as he could and closed his eyes. He thought about his brother that had taught him this trick, and hate burned up inside of him. The anger and hate for his kin was so great that Sasuke's eyes quavered, activating his Sharingan.

Sasuke's brow crinkled with the opening of his eyes. He faced away from the others; his voice unsure. "Ready."

Neji sighed, and looked out into the darkness. With one swipe of his arm, the first knife took off. Unknowingly unneeded, Neji rattled off, "Ten meters…" Sasuke poised his arm. "Five-"

The second kunai flew furiously through the air, speed twice as fast as the one before it. It caught up fast, and just as the first was passing underneath the seal, the second one hit its lower backside, forcing the first one upwards at an almost exact ninety degree angle.

Luna's breath caught in her throat as the first weapon sliced into the seal, ripping it. The second one clattered to the floor, but no one cared anymore.

"Yes!" Lee grinned, some of his natural behavior coming back to him. Sasuke fisted both of his hands at his side, smiling to himself arrogantly.

'_Good job, Sasuke,'_ his brother's fake and dull voice echoed in Sasuke's head.

All eyes were focused on the cell bars as they glowed. Once the greenish color faded from site, Neji smashed his foot into the nearest bar. The glass splintered and broke away, and the genin tasted the sweetness of freedom.


End file.
